Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat, Books 3 and 4 - The Spacedog Cometh and Target: Earth by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth

Since this is a review of two books in the middle of a series, I'm going to refer you back to my earlier review of the first two books: 

Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat and Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat, Book 2: Enemies by J. Marciano, E. Chenoweth, and R. Mommaerts

But, in case you don't feel like reading that, I'll give you a quick rundown of the first two in this delightful middle grade series. The first Klawde book is about an Evil Alien Warlord Cat named Wyss-Cuzz who has been banished to the most horrible place in the universe: Earth. On Earth, Wyss-Cuzz expects things to be as advanced as they are on his home planet but unfortunately it's a primitive place inhabited by ogres who call themselves humans. Wyss-Cuzz is quickly adopted by a boy named Raj and renamed Klawde. In the first book, the evil kitty is trying to get back to his home planet by creating a transporter with the help of his devoted minion, Flooffee-Fyr. 

In the second book he tries to train a crew of kittens to be warriors and things don't work out quite as Klawde anticipated. I reread the first Klawde book but couldn't locate my copy of the second, so I just skipped over it. 

Note: There are some spoilers in these two mini reviews. If you're worried about that, scootch on down to the rating. 

In the third book, The Spacedog Cometh, a dog is sent from one of the many dog planets in the universe (who knew there were so many?) His mission is to punish Klawde for destroying a planet.

Meanwhile, Raj's parents have gone on vacation and he's being watched by his ajji (grandmother), who has brought along a dog that she's fostering. After the spacedog arrives, she takes him in and Klawde must figure out how to deal not only with a dog that can't talk but also with this alien dog who has it in for him. 

With the help of his minion, Flooffee-Fyr, Klawde uses a device like a Go-Pro to beam back films that make him look heroic. But, then he makes the mistake of leaving the camera on at exactly the wrong moment. 

In the fourth book, Target: Earth, Klawde decides he needs to find a way to create an army, take over satellites, and defeat humankind. He starts with a few squirrels in the neighborhood, using them as zombie spies and testing his ability to get them to do his bidding.

Meanwhile, Klawde has been able to acquire some fancy technology by creating his own currency, KitKoin, and becoming filthy rich. In the process, he spoils Raj a little and Raj has to learn a lesson from that. 

Why does Klawde want to kill humans after they've treated him so kindly? Because he has lost the admiration of his many subjects after having to behave submissively to a dog. Will Klawde be able to vanquish his enemy? Or will the FBI agent who lives nearby thwart his efforts?

Both highly recommended - I'm not sure reading them back-to-back would work for everyone and, in fact, even I had to occasionally take a break and read a few pages from a different book to reset. But, I still love this series and if I can, I'll collect them all. There are currently 6 books in the series. I particularly love how this strange, otherworldly creature that looks and sometimes behaves like a cat (not a nice cat, but his humans still love him) is contrasted with a totally normal, slightly quirky family who are kind and loving. Also, Raj begins as a bit of a fish out of water in the first book but quickly finds friends and with each book his connections to people in the neighborhood grows. The human side is really quite lovely, although he does have his nemeses in the form of a group of bullies. 

Note: I'm trying to get back to pre-posting so that all of my posts are up by 7:10 AM for the early risers who like to read posts before or on their way to work but last night I was thwarted by a power outage. Oh, well. I'll keep working on it. 

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (Murderbot Diaries #4)

Note: For convenience, I'm going to use "he" and "him" pronouns, although Murderbot is neither male nor female as it's a part organic and part mechanical being and therefore technically an "it". 

Murderbot is traveling again when he becomes aware that someone is in pursuit of him. And, whoever it is, they've got a well-armed and heavily weaponized security team. He'll have to use all his wits to get away from them. Then, a series of news items indicate that Murderbot's old friend, Dr. Mensah, is in trouble and it's likely Murderbot's fault for causing the devious GrayCris company problems, including exposing the cover-up of illegal activity he discovered in Book #3: Rogue Protocol. 

Knowing the danger, Murderbot carefully heads out to rescue Dr. Mensah. Some of the team from the original Murderbot book, whom Murderbot once saved, have gone to try to work out a deal for Dr. Mensah's release. But, there are complications. Will Murderbot be able to help them secure Dr. Mensah's release and keep the entire team safe? 

Exit Strategy is the 4th novella in the Murderbot Diaries series and it brings the story full circle yet leaves an opening for the story to continue. In fact, I read a review saying the book was originally intended to be the end of the series, although there's now a novel and another book is coming out soon (a friend who has read it says the coming release is novella length). I have the novel and the new book coming out in April, Fugitive Telemetry, is one that I pre-ordered before the end of 2020. I'm so glad I did. 

Highly recommended - Another edge-of-your-seat read. The Murderbot series needs to be read in order but they each stand alone. There are no cliffhanger endings.

I have absolutely no regrets about buying them all. None. They are so entertaining. As with all the other novellas, there's always some set-up in which Murderbot must figure out what's happening before a series of breathtaking action scenes. I loved the interaction between Mensah and Murderbot in the first book and it was very satisfying to read more of the same as they're reunited. 

I'm saving the novel for later since Murderbot books make terrific slump breakers but I confess it's been difficult staying away from the next book, this time. I really want to read on. 

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Small Spaces and Dead Voices by Katherine Arden

I'm going to keep this as short as I can, but I decided to delay my Fiona Friday post by a few hours to squeeze in a final (double) review because I loved the books so much. Last week, I posted a photo of Dead Voices by Katherine Arden. The publicist said no review was necessary but I laughed inside because the entire reason I'm here is to read and talk about books. Of course I was going to read and review the book! However, as I was reading Dead Voices, it became apparent that there was a previous book and Dead Voices was giving away spoilers from the first. I loved Dead Voices and I didn't care about the spoilers, so I went ahead and ordered a copy of the first book, Small Spaces.

Small Spaces is Ollie's story. Ollie (short for Olivia) lost her mother, last year and has nightmares. She's tired of people looking at her with sympathy on their faces and just wants to get back to normal. Her mother was an adventurer and Ollie still loves the outdoors. She can throw a rock with tremendous accuracy, she's great at chess and she's an avid reader. So, when Ollie sees a woman dangling a book over a body of water, about to drop it, Ollie snatches the book away and hurries home with it.

The book tells a story of horror and when Ollie's class goes to a farm for a school outing, Ollie slowly begins to recognize bits of the story — familiar names, a similar mist in the area. When the bus breaks down and night begins to fall, the bus driver tells her to run and so does her mother's broken watch. Ollie listens. Coco, a new girl who is clumsy, bullied, and quick to tears follows along and so does Brian, a hockey player and popular guy who is surprisingly cheerful. Then, the watch says "HIDE". When the scarecrows come to life around them, are they in danger? And, when they see their classmates being marched off into a field, what should they do?

Highly recommended - Ohmygosh, what a terrifying book. I loved everything about Small Spaces. Because I had already read Dead Voices and was familiar with the children, the beginning was a little awkward for me, waiting for them to get to know each other, but the fact that I'd read the second book first didn't really cause as much trouble as I expected. Still, they really need to be read in order because the Bad Guy of the first book shows up in the second and they refer back to the adventure and horror of Small Spaces. Absolutely edge-of-your-seat, spine-tingling, holding-your-breath reading.

~~~~~

Dead Voices is, of course, the follow-up book to Small Spaces but now Ollie, Coco, and Brian are bonded because of their experience at the farm in Small Spaces. This time, they're headed to a ski resort that has just recently opened on the site of a former school. Ollie's dad and Coco's mom are in the front seat, the kids in the back, and they're driving in a snow storm. Coco is particularly nervous about the snow but Ollie's dad is a cheerful guy and he isn't worried.

On the way to the ski resort, Coco sees a man in a ski suit holding up his hand, as if to tell them to stop. Later on, she'll find out his story. At the ski resort, everything goes wrong. The power goes off, the gas stops, the generator doesn't work, and the ghost of a girl who died in a closet is haunting the children. Even worse, the ghost of the woman who locked her into the closet is still lurking. When the Smiling Man (the bad guy from Small Spaces) shows up and traps Ollie behind a mirror, then the other children are separated, will they be able to find each other and work together to escape the Smiling Man's trap?

Highly recommended - Again, this is a seriously scary book. Apart from the fact that the children are middle schoolers, it's hard to believe that this is a middle grade book because it's so intense. There's an added complication that gives the book some of the emotion of the first book: Ollie's dad and Coco's mom are getting a little giggly and sweet together.

In both books, Ollie's dad is a terrific character who provides some light moments and the children save themselves, although I tended to think of Dead Voices as Coco's story. Each book seems to focus on one child just a little more than the other two. I hope this means Brian is getting a book because I would definitely love to read a third book with Ollie, Coco, and Brian figuring their way out of a terrifying puzzle.

Side note: I took Small Spaces to my physical therapy appointment, yesterday, and my therapist (the one to whom I introduced Joe Hill) exclaimed with glee when he saw my copy of Small Spaces. He just bought a copy of Small Spaces and is planning to read it next. He didn't know there was a follow-up book, so he's excited about that. Of course, I was planning to recommend the series to him. I know that guy's reading taste pretty well after a couple years of talking books while he works on my neck.

I would not limit the reading of these books to middle schoolers. Young adults and older adults who like a creepy book will appreciate them just as much. They were terrific for fall reading and I may pull them out again for next year's RIP challenge.

©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat and Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat, Book 2: Enemies by J. Marciano, E. Chenoweth, and R. Mommaerts

Klawde, Evil Alien Warlord Cat, Books 1 and 2 were sent to me together and they're such fun reading that I am toying with pre-ordering the third in the series (which is scheduled for release in October).

The first in the series, Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat #1 tells the story of a vicious warlord cat from another planet. Former High Commander of the planet Lyttyrbox, Wyss-Kuzz is banished from his home planet and sent to a place where carnivorous ogres live: the planet Earth.

Wyss-Kuzz arrives in Oregon in the driving rain and attempts to enter Raj Banerjee's home by pressing a button, which turns out to be a doorbell rather than an electronic portal opener (disappointing -- so primitive, these humans). The brilliant warlord is stuck pretending he's an ordinary cat and is instantly adopted. He's named Klawde by the family. Klawde is not a nice cat at all, which leads to a bit of hilarity, but Raj is excited to have a kitty.

Raj has just moved from Brooklyn, New York, and the last thing he wants to deal with is nature but his mother insists that he must go to a 2-week nature day camp that culminates in Survival Night. In alternating chapters, the story of Raj's time at camp (with evenings at home) and Klawde's hours spent building a transporter to return to his home planet unfolds.

I can't remember the last time a book literally made me laugh out loud like Klawde did. It's been a while. As I was reading this delightful immensely fun outer-space-cat-meets-normal-Earthlings story, I kept thinking about my youngest son (a cat lover, like myself) and how much he would have adored this book as a youngster. Full of dark humor and ridiculous situations, it seems right up his alley. In fact, I mentioned the book to him on the phone and Kiddo admitted that even now, at 27, he would probably enjoy it. Klawde is a mean cat who scratches frequently and, let's face it, he must have been pretty evil to have been banished from his planet. But, in the end he becomes friends with Raj.

In the second book, Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat #2: Enemies, both Raj and Klawde are faced with new challenges. Raj is doing fine at his new middle school since he shared the fact that his best friend from Brooklyn is the son of the artist who created the popular Americaman comic books. The only problem with this story is that Raj and Cameron are no longer friends. When Cameron shows up in the same small town in Oregon where Raj has moved, his status as a newly popular kid is in jeopardy. And, when Cameron helps his team perfect their project in robotics class and it appears that he may have sabotaged Raj's team's robot, Raj falls sway to Klawde's advice to take revenge.

Meanwhile, Klawde has returned to Earth after being betrayed by his former lackey, Flooffee-Fyr, who closed the wormholes to his home planet. Klawde has trained his humans and one could say he is learning how to behave like a normal pussycat. He no longer scratches the way he used to. But, he's bored waiting for Flooffee-Fyr to fail as the new emperor. Then, he gets a brilliant idea. He'll set up a new school for warriors. After his first attempt (training the neighborhood cats) fails, Klawde decides he must start from the beginning and he brings home three kittens to train. It's going well but then disaster strikes. Klawde's mortal enemy Ffangg has also been banished to Earth. And, he's determined to make sure Klawde is humiliated in every way. Revenge is definitely on the menu for Klawde, as well as Raj.

Oh, my gosh, I love these books. Enemies is every bit as good as the first in the series, clever and funny with such distinctive voices. The contrast between Klawde, an uppity former high emperor cat, and Raj, who is really just a nerdy but nice kid, gives the book a raucous spice:

All day, I stewed in the bilious juices of my fury. I must have my revenge! But how? By what means?

As my massive feline brain analyzed all the possible stratagems, the boy-Human arrived home. I hissed at him to leave me alone, as I needed privacy for my scheming. His pestering, however, was relentless. 

"But Klawde, don't you understand? Our robot won! On Monday I get to show it off to the whole school!" He was practically jumping up and down with excitement. It was most unseemly. 

So much fun.

Both highly recommended - A little sci-fi, some clever plotting, distinctive voices, and loads of humor make this a winning series. And, Raj learns his lesson about revenge being a bad thing (after that last post, you know how important that is to me in a children's book). Really, the only question is whether or not my youngest son will be able to pry these books away from me because I know he'll want to keep them, once he's read the two books.

This is the final post for National Pet Day. My thanks to Penguin Random House for the Klawde books and the other books I had the privilege of reviewing, today.


©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.