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The Book Quadrant: To Sleep In A Sea of Stars by. Christopher Paolini

Hello to all of you beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the vast nerd universe! I am back with a new book review!

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

Disclaimer: This partial ARC was given to the lead writer of this blog to review. Please respect her thoughts and opinions that are in this review. Thank you!

Kira Navarez has always hoped to explore new worlds but one world has given her a nightmare she thought she would live. While being on a planet in a system ripe for colonization by humans she ends up falling onto a relic that causes her to change into something that no one has seen before that may lead to the annihilation of the human race and she is the only one to keep it from happening.

Thoughts: When I saw that this was written by Christopher Paolini I was surprised. I have read the first three books in the Inheritance series and still on the fourth one on one of my Victor Reader Streams and when I read this I was amazed how much his writing has changed. I know he was a teenager when he wrote Eragon and I have a feeling he is in his twenties or early thirties by now writing this book and I was happy to read a partial ARC of it. This book kind or reminded me of Event Horizon with a mix of Alien or Prometheus depending on how you see it when this book comes out around September. I did like how he started the book with the voyage with Kira and her team since this was important to start painting the picture and how Kira started to change. As in the mission that changed her to how she loses herself and the teammates closest to her, then to her being alone in the universe. I did find it interesting how the parasite is more of a suit rather than just a virus like how Sam Neil was infected in Event Horizon since his consciousness was being controlled and manipulated when Kira is still conscious and being able to control herself. At first, when she first got infected with her first encounter, I had a feeling that something was going to happen to her and that it could kill her with how Paolini made it sound. I may have to buy the book to read the rest of this because when it dropped off I was hoping her travels on the Valkyrie to get to 61 Sydney, which is in the Wayland System, and how she would deal with things and the remaining crew from the military from the quarantine ship. I also hope this turns into a short series too because I can see this may require a sequel if Paolini hasn’t started on one yet.

Rating: 5 Star Paw Prints Out of 5! For a partial ARC this was a good one! I liked how the story was set up with the mission starting off good and then it went to crap once Kira fell into the relic where a crashed drone was located. I feel that this may be a series because we are going to be facing an alien race that may threaten the human race or maybe Kira is just going to be the next Eragon by being the hero and having to use the military at her side to take on what may be coming after her for the suit. It looks like I will be buying this book, heck I would even get it on Audible to see who gets to read this book since I’ve been enjoying that service on my new Kindle that I purchased this month. Let’s see how this one goes.

That is it for this book review! I know it’s short since it was a partial book after all and hoping I will get the book once it’s released in September since one of the other Dresden Files books is supposed to drop at the same time which I am happy for since it’s been five years since Skin Game! Anyways, what’s next? June is right around the corner so stay tuned for more posts!
To Sleep in A Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

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by moonleopard85 on May 28, 2020  •  Link  •  Permalink
Posted in Books, Reviews, Science Fiction
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Posted by moonleopard85 on May 28, 2020

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2020/05/28/the-book-quadrant-to-sleep-in-a-sea-of-stars-by-christopher-paolini/

The Web Series Quadrant: RWBY Volume 7 Review!Hello to all of my beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the vast universe! It’s time for my long awaited review of this!

RWBY Volume 7 Review!

Disclaimer: This review is based on thoughts and observations of the lead writer of this blog! Please respect her thoughts because she has different opinions from people on YouTube. You have been warned!

I know the seventh volume of RWBY ended in February but due to work and the CoVid19 pandemic rising I didn’t get the chance to do it. I finally got to sit down and re-watch the season and here we go!

Team RWBY arrives in Atlas to not so open arms. All thanks to the ship they arrived on being seen as stolen they are welcomed by Ace Operatives who are an elite group of huntsmen and huntresses appointed by General Ironwood. Despite the cold welcome, they are warmly welcomed by an old friend who was presumed dead since the Vital Festival, Penny. Once meeting up with Ironwood again they are now given new jobs to work with the Ace Operatives to be seen as trusted and handed their licenses and in on a secret expansion of Amity Stadium to help reunite everyone in Remnant. Even though Ironwood wants to keep this a secret danger arises when Dr. Watts and Teri an come to Atlas to cause trouble for him and try to frame Penny and not only that cause disruption in an election for the Council Head between Jacques Schni and Robin Hill. Besides the troubles in Mantle, Weiss has come back home to not only a cold shoulder from her father but a warm hug from her sister Winter and that her sister may take on the powers of the Winter Maiden since times have gotten worse since Ironwood is trying to find ways of protecting Atlas and Mantle from another attack by Salem. Will they be able to keep her away or will the Grimm and Salem’s allies be able to take down Ironwood his friends including Team RWBY?

Thoughts: This was a better volume because it did continue from where Volume 6 left off and felt like it was a better story. Even though Volume 6 had some added back story but here it felt like it brought back what we enjoyed with the early volumes of RWBY or at least me. I have been noticing people on YouTube have been complaining about some parts of this volume and I agree a little bit and disagree with most of it. How so?

Penny: First off Penny was brought back and I was hoping to see her returning after what had happened to her in Volume 3. Some people think she should have stayed dead but to me I had a feeling that she would be back at some point and this is where she did return since Atlas was where she was created. Got to remember folks, Atlas is known for their military, tech, and dust mining in the world of Remnant and being able to bring her back was not hard even though it was revealed later that someone’s aura was used to help her be brought back. Hey, you have to get it from somewhere. Even though she was treated as the protector of the city but we did get to see more of her in a newer light this time since I kind of felt like despite being able to hang with Ruby and the gang during the Vital Festival she was able to hang out with them again this time but as a helper. She did help with the enemies in this and even with the Winter Maiden, which I will touch upon later, but I did like how she was brought back for this volume and I did like her from the start. I wonder how she will play in the next volume after I talk about the Maiden role this time.

Ironwood: With all the things that have taken place I did notice that Ironwood did show that he was pretty mistrusting towards a lot of people. Yes, he did keep a huge secret and yes he was trying to do it to protect everyone but he was acting very rash in order to do that. I did notice it when Team RWBY and the rest of JNPR meeting up with him that he was holding a brave front but inside you can tell that he is afraid of what may happen if he tries to trust anyone. As in how is he able to share his trust with Qrow this time? How will he trust Team RWBY? Will he be able to trust Oscar since he is the newest Ozpen reincarnate? It made the story seem to flow smoothly until the end when everything started to fail when he noticed that things are starting to fall apart as in that even though his team of Ace Operatives were the strongest but there was something that made them vulnerable and open to the enemy. I also did like Oscar’s philosophical talks with Ironwood in this one because he was able to try and reason with him knowing that Ozpen could say the same to him since the theme here is fear and that everyone, including Ironwood, has it and it’s hard to escape from it even when Salem is the one bringing it. I wonder how it will continue in the next volume with Ironwood since someone did say he was going to be on the death list next but who knows how that will play out.

Team RWBY: I felt that this volume made them stronger because not only they were able to get newer weapons, also new looks, but also trained by the Ace Operatives. I also feel like their personalities also improved. Some people were ragging on how Yang was not the same as she was from the first volume, especially looking out for Ruby, which I kind of see it but I am also noticing it’s that Ruby has grown up and same with Yang after she had lost her arm in Volume 3 and found out that her mom, Raven, is the Spring Maiden and that they can still work together but at the same time can make themselves stronger when working on their own. On top of that, I noticed how Ruby has taken more of a leader stance since she is the title character after all and since the past few volumes it didn’t feel that way but since the change and now knowing what Salem is capable of she needed to step up! I did like how she gave orders in how to handle the dinner party Weiss’ father was putting together and the election was probably rigged and that she had Weiss go in to find that evidence to prove it. Plus, she did step up when Ironwood was starting to break under the pressure towards the end of the volume. Despite what others think I feel that she has gotten stronger and same with Weiss since she wasn’t too happy about coming back to Atlas but she had to with her team. I did like how she stood up to her father towards the beginning of the volume since he noticed how she cared for her friends but said that they are family to her. I did find it interesting how her mother, on the other hand, pointed to her that she left Whitley, her brother, alone. I have feeling that may play into the story somehow but we will see! Blake, let me see, I have noticed this volume she has become more out spoken since Volume 5! She did get a new bold hair cut but she did have a change in personality even around Yang since now it looks like they’re dating. Yes! Even though she did have that fight with Adam towards the end of last volume which I am seeing that she is starting to get over it and becoming better as the volume rolls on.

Winter Maiden: In this volume we get to meet the Winter Maiden finally and her name is Freya. Unlike the spring and Fall Maidens losing their lives young, Freya has reached her old age and this time she needs to pass her power on and it ended in an interesting way. Sorry for spoiler’s people but if you have not seen this volume I would say watch before you read! At first Winter was ordered by Ironwood to take the power since he thought it would be able to help her be able to use the Staff of Creation but unfortunately due to Cinder getting in the way the power went to someone else! It was Penny who ended up with the power.

I decided to go back to the Maidens Wiki to see if my hunch was correct about what had happened and it was which Freya gave her the power. I find it interesting though because isn’t Penny an artificial human with a soul? I even remembered that the way the power is passed onto another young woman is that either they are in the dying maiden’s thoughts or the maiden deems them worthy. With Raven it was out of nowhere while Cinder took it on due to greed, with Penny, on the other hand, I felt that Freya knew that cinder was not the one but waiting for someone else who was worthy and that was Penny. I think Freya noticed the aura inside of her and that it was pure and passed it onto her and I found this interesting since now we have her as Winter, Raven as Spring who is a bandit, and Cinder who took the Fall powers, I wonder what about Summer?

Thoughts on Summer: This brought me to this point since I kind of have been wondering like a few others on who might be the Summer Maiden? She hasn’t been revealed yet since now the circumstances with Salem are changing and things are getting worse. My thought is that did Salem kidnap her? It is a possibility because during the second to last episode she brought up Ruby’s mom and of course her name is Summer. I am wondering could she be alive and did she kidnap her? Because up to this point I remembered Ruby mentioning that her mom didn’t come back from her final mission and there is a possibility she may have had a run in with Salem. I am not sure if she had the Summer powers but if she did then it may have been passed on or Salem would have taken them since she wants the Maiden Relics in the first place. Either or I am hoping we can see the Summer Maiden next volume or if my theory would be partially right. Let’s see how that happens!

What Do I Want to See in Volume 8? Where to start? Definitely Summer Maiden because of how things are going down and I feel as though she may make an appearance or my thoughts may be the idea of how it will be revealed. And of course seeing how Penny deals with her now new position of Winter Maiden. I have a feeling that Ironwood won’t like it since he was hoping Winter would take them on. Also, this will still bug me since I feel like it was forgotten, the dreams of Pyhra coming back since those appeared in Volume 4 and hoping to get to see if those appear again if they are still a message.

Rating: 5 Shooting Star Paws Out of 5! I know I didn’t get to put a real rating but this deserves the five because it did continue the story from the last volume. Some people have been talking about the negatives and how this series is not the same as we remembered. Yes, Vol. 4 and 5 seemed to be the filler volumes and it did drag the story a bit not focus on Ruby herself but I feel that 6 and 7 fixed the story since we got to see some back story behind Remnant and what Salem is planning and that we got to see how badly Ironwood is afraid but didn’t want to show it and tried to make things safe but there was an opening for things to go bad. Plus it did bring back an old character and it built our favorite characters up to be better in this one so I feel that the story is stronger and it will get stronger, hopefully, with the next volume.

Also, I want to give major props to Christina V. as Robin since she did a really job playing this character during this volume. She did an amazing performance and I enjoyed every chapter of it!

Well guys that is it for this review! Sorry if I haven’t given this blog much love since of course we are going through a major pandemic and times gotten busy after all. I will get back to here and of course I do have the podcast to do on top of it. And then of course I do have one more RangerStop video to put here and that will be next! Until next time!

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by moonleopard85 on April 5, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in Cartoons, Internet, Reviews, Television
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Posted by moonleopard85 on April 5, 2020

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2020/04/05/1571/

The Book Quadrant: P Is For Pluto by. Jackie Kingon

Hello to all of my beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the vast universe! I am back with a long awaited book review!

P Is for Pluto by. Jackie Kingon

Disclaimer: This book review is based on thoughts and opinions of the lead writer of this blog. Please respect her thoughts and opinions! Thank you!

Molly’s Bistro is opening on Pluto and just as she is about to head out there to make sure things are going according to plan her new chef is murdered! She heads for Pluto with her best friend Jersey to crack the case alongside a relaxed police force who is on the job. While finding culprits, she notices that most of the people on the planet looks alike and she even gets confused as a clone herself while being kidnapped. Will she be able to find who killed her chef and be able to open her restaurant in time?

Thoughts: I think this has been my favorite book so far from Jackie Kingon. I felt the same science fiction and humor from Sherlock Mars in this one due to how she always gets in so much trouble like most of the characters in the first one. My favorite part would be when she first meets her clones and she had amnesia on top of it and had to help them make her most famous desserts from her restaurant but only remembered her chocolate chip cookie recipe which sounded so good to me. It was very enjoyable and did see the same interactions with Jersey that I enjoyed before even when Trenton shows up. I do find it interesting how androids seem to have bad gambling addictions at casinos if they’re not careful, even one good example is the character April May who was turned into one and a video shown her and her sister arguing about her addiction. I did find it more interesting how cloning is so big on Pluto and how they told the history about it from Earth and how they implemented it over time on the planet since of course it being controversial on Earth why not do it somewhere else? I did like the scenes with the hatchery since we got to know how Pluto used it over many centuries. It did give an interesting perspective on the case because of how the chef was killed not only with the original but the clones too which kind of shown that someone didn’t want the chef working at Molly’s Bistro on Pluto in the first place. What I also liked that was brought back from Sherlock Mars was of course the mysterious messages Molly has gotten to stay out of the case and just go home. During the last one the person threatening her caused so-called accidents like having Becky’s and Burton’s wedding attire floating in space on the way to the wedding location for example. Here it was mainly going after Molly and her life or getting her mixed up in weird situations that she couldn’t get close to what was going on which makes the book more intriguing as each page turned in the Kindle app.

Rating: 5 Shooting Star Paw Prints Out of 5! I felt that this book was a great sequel to Sherlock Mars because it brought back some of the elements I have enjoyed while reading it. It did bring back the humor even though I felt like I laughed a little more while reading this one. I did like how they made Pluto as different from Mars as in not only having so many clones inhabiting the planet along with androids but also the food. On Mars, according to the books, the food is so fresh, the ingredients are grown all over the planet, and you have tons of great restaurants to choose from while Pluto, on the other hand, the food is really bland, to get really fresh ingredients you have to go to special locations, and also trade for some items too. Not only that, also get used to the odd flavors of the food you eat, I mean Jersey did and it took Molly some time even before her family shown up. I still find it funny how Courtland, her husband, just didn’t want to touch the food despite how normal it looked and find it weird how Molly enjoyed it. I can’t wait to see if Kingon will write another book in this series because I’ve been enjoying it so much and hoping I get to see what may happen with Jupiter since that is my favorite planet after all.

Well guys that is it for this post! I’m glad to get it up finally because I’ve been really busy and trying to get some rest in between due to being exhausted every week but it is part of life when you’re working an eight to five job after all. I am reading the series that the next couple of books on my NetGalley shelf are on so stay tuned for those reviews and of course I am waiting on my subscriptions to arrive and we do have Omni Fandom Expo coming up this month and don’t worry I will get the rest of the RangerStop panels up for you all! Until next time!
P Is for Pluto by. Jackie Kingon

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by moonleopard85 on March 7, 2020  •  Link  •  Permalink
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Posted by moonleopard85 on March 7, 2020

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2020/03/07/the-book-quadrant-p-is-for-pluto-by-jackie-kingon/

The Book Quadrant: Chocolate Chocolate Moons by. Jackie Kingon

Hello to all of my beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the vast nerd universe! I am back with a new book review but this time it’s a book that is a prequel to something I already read!

Chocolate Chocolate Moons by. Jackie Kingon

Disclaimer: This review is based on thoughts and opinions of the lead writer of this blog. Please respect her thoughts on this special book file she got from the author directly. You’ve been warned!

This book is the first in a series where we meet Molly, a chubby food lover who wouldn’t have thought that her life could change when winning a scholarship to the Armstrong Food Academy on the moon. Later in her life she lives on Mars with her husband and two twin daughters and after starting her new job as a security officer at a culinary academy she finds people are being poisoned by her favorite chocolate snack, Chocolate Moons.

Thoughts: I didn’t know when I read Sherlock Mars that there was another book before this one. To be fair I didn’t join NetGalley until after this one was published and did enjoy that one over this one slightly more.

I felt this one had way too many characters to follow. At first we follow Molly and her ex-boyfriend, Drew, who ends up having an affair with Colorful Copies or C. C. for short and then we meet even more characters that I feel like she didn’t really interacted even with the first poisoning happened. Yes, she was trying to hide herself due to her weight but unlike in this one she didn’t interact with the characters like in Sherlock Mars that were suspected for the poisoning in the first place. As in, we followed their day to day lives and wondering where is Molly among these people? I get the idea she doesn’t want to be with her ex when she knew about him being on Mars but would make sense if she was the main character in this story that she interacts with more of the suspects rather than Drew which I felt the story should have him as narrator. Sorry for being critical.

I did like how Molly and Jersey met in this since the second book did briefly mention how they worked together at the culinary academy and their friendship works very well. As in, Jersey being someone who takes vitamin supplements and spends on fancy things while Molly is simpler and does eat but does lose the weight later to be healthier. It did continue into the next book where we get to see more of Jersey and Molly together and hanging out on Mercury and Mars. This book needed more of that but I understand it was the first.

One last thing, when it came to the suspect reveal I was kind of surprised since I was not expecting it but I would say if you’re into intergalactic mysteries or mysteries in general I would say read these books! I would say read them in order like always!

Rating: 3.5 Shooting Star Paws Out of 5! I only gave this a four but I felt this was a better rating because I preferred the second book more than the first despite reading that first. I am grateful that Jackie did send me this book to read and same with the next which I will read after finishing re-reading Sherlock Mars to get the feeling of the series. I feel the main character had less of a moment when the suspects had more to it and glad with the second one we got more interactions with the suspects in the second one. I can’t wait to read the next one, P is for Pluto with how it continues.

Well guys that’s it for this review! Before I go, I want to tell you all that we have a podcast! Yay! It’s called Nerdy Shique Transmissions and you can get it at:

Spotify
Pocket Podcasts
Radio Public
Google Podcasts
Apple Podcasts
Victor Reader Stream

I hope you all get to follow us there as much here and the YouTube Channel and Twitter! What’s next? Our first Convention Comet of the year on Omni Fandom Expo 2020!

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by moonleopard85 on February 8, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in Books, Reviews

Posted by moonleopard85 on February 8, 2020

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2020/02/08/the-book-quadrant-chocolate-chocolate-moons-by-jackie-kingon/

The Book Quadrant: The Librarian’s Vampire Assistant #4 by. Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

Hello to all of my beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the vast nerd universe! I am back with a new book review!

The Librarian’s Vampire Assistant Book 4 by. Mimi Jean Pamfiloff!

Disclaimer: This book review is based on the thoughts and opinions of the writer of this blog. Please respect her thoughts and opinions on this ARC that was provided to her by the author and her team. Enjoy!

Last time, we left our heroes with a pile of ashes of Michael’s and Lula’s creator, Clyve, all thanks to Mr. Nice but when Michael turns to Miriam and Nice he finds her gone and he has to look for her. A year has passed and Michael has not found Miriam and still looking for her. After five years of working on the library and working at it, news comes up that Miriam has been married to Nice and after rescuing her she acts totally weird from her usual self. As in not liking books, not caring for her library, and just falling for the frills and lace that Nice wears. Michael tries to get her to snap out of it until she reveals something he doesn’t know that it is crucial to not only save her but something they created.

Thoughts: I feel that this has been the best book so far because it not only pokes even more fun at Twilight but it had a bit of more of a serious tone to it as well. There were a few comedic moments but I did notice that this book took more of a serious road because of what was going on like trying to find Nice and Miriam and how much Miriam was acting once Michael had found her and of course with the truth that came out in this book. Don’t want to reveal that because I was kind of surprised myself even though there was a bit of a tidbit about it in the last one. Also, glad it did not go the way like Stephanie Meyer did with the name relating to it. Read this book and you will know.

I did like another bit that was added to the vampire lore in this book series and that is if a vampire drinks a drug addict’s blood they will take on the same drug affects that the person went through which I got to see Michael going on a trip! It was interesting to see how he saw just teddy bears and rainbows and marshmallows from one drink of that kind of blood. Sounds better than the chocolate as a tranquilizer or liquor to them. Also, Nice was more of an asshole in this one, sorry for the language, but had to be since he did kidnap Miriam at the end of the last book and I feel like the tag line did fit with the description for this book from the last and that was “No More Mr. Nice Guy!” Also, I did like how he took his Fanged Love obsession to the next level since the surprise does lead to that and I kind of felt like with his obsession did bring me back to the Twilight obsession from years ago but this was beyond that. And there was another character I did start liking and hoping she will be in the next and that is Greta.

Greta is a former princess and has a huge crush on Michael even sexually but also owe him a lot over time. I do like how she is in a rock band as part of the many jobs a vampire takes on. I could imagine her as a Jamie Marchi character due to how she has the sarcastic tone to her voice and also the attitude, “Oh! Was I supposed to be at this at this time?” Also her keeping old-fashioned torture devices from the 1500s does seem to make her happy!

Rating: 5 Shooting Star Paws Out of 5! This book has been the best so far because of it picking up where it left off. I did like the interactions between characters, heck even Spicy Bubba in a maid outfit made it better. Not only that we did get to see more of the serious side of this series even with Michael in the end. I would say give these books a good read even with this one. I can’t wait to see how the next one where we get to get the story from Miriam’s point of view will make it even more interesting and I am looking forward to it. Now with all that said and talking about it, I am hearing “A Thousand Years” from New Found Glory in my head due to how it’s on their newest movie songs album.

That is it guys! Will be reviewing more books this year since I have so many to read still. And with the next post it’s a follow-up to a post I made a year and a half ago almost two years relating to a small subscription box. Stay tuned!
The Librarian’s Vampire Assistant Book 4

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by moonleopard85 on January 17, 2020  •  Link  •  Permalink
Posted in Books, Reviews

Posted by moonleopard85 on January 17, 2020

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2020/01/17/the-book-quadrant-the-librarians-vampire-assistant-4-by-mimi-jean-pamfiloff/

The Book Quadrant: Nemecene Episode 4 by. Kaz LeFave

Hello to all of my beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the vast universe! I am back with a long awaited book review!

Nemecene: Dreams Flow in Streams by. Kaz LeFave

Disclaimer: This book review is based on thoughts and observations of the lead writer of this blog. Please respect her thoughts on this book which was given to her as an ARC for her to enjoy and review.

In this episode, we find Elise in a newer world where no one can pass through and memories fade and where being guided can lead to being misdirected. Keeto now has to keep his sanity while his sister is being kept in incubation after seeing her murdered in front of him and Stitch and must play a game of Trust-&-Seek in order to save his sister but can he stay strong and sane in order to do that?

Meanwhile the Gadlin Subculture is going through its own crisis where the ocean is in its vision but the planet is changing at a fast rate despite their ways of fixing it. Tufferie, on the other hand, is now selected among the group that has been watching the twins’ progress in the city Aedenborough and must keep the truths behind their veils as she guides her friends to help save Elise’s life and keep Keeto sane to help put the pieces together.

Thoughts: Man that was kind of hard to write the synopsis in my own words since I did remember how the book went at certain points. So, basically this book continues from where Through Fire & Ice but with one twin dead and the other grieving with Stitch. I was surprised when I was going into the book that the reason why Elise went cold was due to what took place at the end of the last and that she is now in an area being brought back to life within nine days if possible.

I did find this book really interesting since the afterlife or purgatory in this world is more of a dream world. As we know that different cultures have different ideas of death and purgatory and I find this new since it shows Elise’s memories even with Keeto, Nithruyu, Stitch, and even going back to a time of their ninth birthday. Okay, the number nine is bigger in this book since we have nine days to get her back, ninth birthday, and still keeping the nine chapters in this idea.

What do I think of Keeto in this book? I find him doing well despite the grief he was going through. Yes, I saw that he was going a bit insane even around Stitch, who had his hair freezing which we can tell he did like Elise more than just a friend and how his attitude just went cold and the ice was also hurting Keeto at times. I was surprised that he let Sparky go through but I understand since he lost his sister who has been his only friend all his life and they are trying to survive in a toxic environment and of course wondering what is going on with Caroline who is also another life line where they are. I also found his journal entries very interesting since he was calling out to his and Elise’s mother and hoped for more responses and what I find more interesting is the tech being used with the transmitters where he has recorded things over time. He even questions more about what he finds and if it is really linked to his mother but at the same time it still loops back to the birthday memory. I feel like the birthday is a big symbol while reading the book. I don’t want to spoil too much since you may want to read this one.

And finally, Tuffurie, I liked how she started in her segments of the story as in working at the café where the twins tend to hang out at and have those Flyer Bakes all the time. I can imagine if this was animated that she has glasses or something to make her more unique to me besides the jewel tone eyes like the others had. I know with the others like her she has been still in the story and I hope they keep her as each episode keeps on being written. I did find it interesting how she interacts with Elise and trying to help her and yet not helping her by saying, “Do this this way but not that way!” And how she makes it sound like it will get her back as each day keeps going. I can’t wait to see if she has more things to do in the next episode since she seem to have more care for Elise like Nepharus had in Episode 2. Will have to see!

Rating: 5 Star Paw Prints Out of 5! This was a really interesting book with how we got to see what purgatory was like and of course getting to see more of Keeto’s mind. I do like how the ninth birthday came into play and that memories can be changed and also time since there was some time traveling that took place but can’t say how. I hope with the next book we get to see more growth with the twins and that Elise and Keeto find that new place after knowing that they can’t stay where they are anymore. I have a feeling they had to leave Aedenborough even though their journey took them to different parts of the world they’re in. With the next one I can’t wait to see how Kaz will make it since new things are popping and now more things are showing with the Gatlins and who knows what secrets may hit and how both of the twins will find out. Still a great series so far!

Nemecene: Dreams Flow In StreamsWell guys that is it for this review! Things are getting serious from what I can read and hoping to read the next episode and review it for you all! Next time will be doing my Glam Bag Plus!

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by moonleopard85 on December 19, 2019  •  Link  •  Permalink
Posted in Books, Reviews, Science Fiction

Posted by moonleopard85 on December 19, 2019

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2019/12/19/the-book-quadrant-nemecene-episode-4-by-kaz-lefave/

The Book Quadrant: The Girl From Berlin by. Ronald H. Balson

Hello to all of my beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the vast universe! I am back with another book review!

The Girl from Berlin by. Ronald H. Balson

Disclaimer: This is a review based on thoughts and opinions from the lead writer on this ARC. Please respect the thoughts of the lead writer of this blog!

Another addition to the Liam Taggart and Katherine Lockhart series where an old friend has called upon services from both Kat and Liam to go to Tuscany in Italy to meet Gabrielle who is losing her vineyard to a corporation who claims they have deeds on the land but she claims she can bring her own set of deeds to show proof that it is her property. Their only clue so far is a manuscript written in German that has been translated for them to read in order to see why it’s related to this case.

Ada Baumgarten was born in 1918 after the First World War and became the daughter of a prestigious violinist of the Berlin Philharmonic and became a prodigy herself. When she meets Kurt, a German boy, she starts falling for him and gets torn from him when he leaves for the military and her family starts being under suspicion due to her Jewish heritage. Even though with her violin and her work which is the only thing that has been saving her so far but with moving to Bologna it gives her family more heart aches and more suspicion and the story of her life brings questions on why is it related to the vineyard in the first place?

Thoughts: Again I read the audio version of this book through the NLS Bard service and it was the same guy that read The Trust as well. I did enjoy how he read this book since he did bring the characters to life with this one as well but this time he did an Italian accent for anyone who is Italian and of course German for any German characters except for Ada and her family and some of her friends. I didn’t mind but I did enjoy it like the book before it.

When I started this book I was wondering why start with Italy since that was the prologue but as the book went on I understood why since it does lead to the secrets Gabrielle has held throughout the book since it dealt with Ada and her back story. It has been revealed that Gabrielle was orphaned in World War II and has shut out her past even about Ada and it brought tragedy and I can see why since the Second World War was big and tragic on its own. When I was listening to Ada’s story I was really entertained about learning what had happened in Berlin since while being in different history classes not much of Berlin has been talked about since we knew what countries were taken over by Hitler such as Poland, Denmark, and many others. It also brought on what took place in Italy since we got to see some of the events with Musilini and of course Rome being a big event where of course Ada meeting Gabrielle at that point. I did like how the characters interact during these moments since they are reacting to the events like how Ada told off a German soldier after one of her concerts, how she and her family were going through the happenings, trust me I almost cried when her father told her to leave him behind at the camp because he didn’t want anyone to take savings that may help her and her mother. It was even sad when her mother left while being at the camp as well when they got to send to one. It was just a great round about tale since it did help us understand why the vineyard had to be saved and I did like how it hinted about Ada having her own patch in the vineyard since earlier in the story when her mother started working among the vines of grapes and olives that she named a part of it after Ada even though Ada found it silly. I can see why it happened since Ada’s mother wanted to leave something special even after the war had ended. It did get revealed a wine was named after a piece that Ada was famous for playing.

What also tugged at my heart strings was how she and Kurt were together. As history happens soldiers do lose their lives and this was a sad part to it. I did find it cute with how Ada and Kurt first met at the Junior Orchestra and how the Baumgartens helped Kurt get to the concert hall for practice but later his violin does get broken and was sent to the junior camps for the military. It was very heart felt whenever both Ada and Kurt were able to have their times together even with one instance when Ada was on a concert trip and she and Kurt were out all night and she had to leave the next day but it did come with some consequences that surprised people. I understand that since I had played clarinet myself in middle school that consequences during class like having people moved due to not being able to have their instruments or some members misbehaving and causing the teacher to yell can happen but back then it was even more strict from what I’ve seen. It was sad with how Ada lost him since I was hoping that they were able to spend the rest of their lives but understanding having someone for that long even if they were on opposite sides can be tragic even seeing how they end up losing their lives in the end. I don’t want to spoil that part because this is something that you got to read yourself.

Rating: 5 Star Paw Prints Out of 5! Out of Ronald’s books I would have to say this one is my most favorite because it was well written even how much the story that Ada told blended in with the present day stuff. It did link to the loose ends that Katherine and Liam had to learn as they have to hire extra lawyers in order to get things settled and solved while the clues were starting to show as they read the manuscript. I think I liked this one more than Karolena’s Twins because I prefer how Ada was spunkier and she didn’t want anyone push her down even if she had to face her consequences later when meeting that soldier later on. It was heart felt and of course I did like seeing what took place in Italy and Berlin during the Second World War and getting to know more of the history as I read on. I am wondering Mr. Balson going to write more for this series because I feel like he has done very well, if he does I am hoping to get to read that one too since I have been reading his stuff on NetGalley since the third book. If not, I am content with how it ended.

Well, that is it guys! I have more books to review and hoping to get more RangerStop content up as soon as possible. Plus, my BoxyCharm is on the way at the moment! So stay tuned!
The Girl From Berlin by. Ronald H. Balson

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by moonleopard85 on December 7, 2019  •  Link  •  Permalink
Posted in Books, Reviews

Posted by moonleopard85 on December 7, 2019

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2019/12/07/the-book-quadrant-the-girl-from-berlin-by-ronald-h-balson/

The Book Quadrant: The Trust by. Ronald H. Balson

Hello to all of my beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the vast universe! I am back with a new book review!

The Trust by. Ronald H. Balson

Disclaimer: This review is based on thoughts and opinions on this ARC that was sent for review. Please respect the lead writer’s thoughts on this book! You have been warned!

In this book by the author of Karolena’s Twins finds Liam Taggart going home to Ireland for an uncle’s funeral but this funeral is not due to natural causes of death but a murder. Not only he finds out that it was a murder but this same uncle anticipated it and put the Will and Testament in Liam’s hands and must wait until he solves the murder that he can distribute the funds laid out for the rest of the family. During his time in Ireland, he finds deep dark secrets about his family and not only that finds out his old love, Annie, has been in contact with the family and closer to the uncle than he thinks. Will Liam be able to solve his uncle’s murder? Also, what is going on with new messages of death towards his family including his wife Katherine back in Chicago? Is this all connected somehow?

Thoughts: I didn’t know that this book along with Karolena’s Twins were part of a series until I went back and found the first two books, Once We Were Brothers and Saving Sophie, were within the series. I can see looking back on reading Karolena’s Twins that it did mention one of the characters from the first book and another character from the second and how that one tied to the character from the first and how Liam and Katherine ended up together and married.

I would have to say I prefer reading the audio version of this book than reading it as a Kindle book because the guy who read it was amazing at it especially with Saving Sophie and now reading the next book in this series which you will see that review sometime soon. I did like how he went into an Irish accent when need be to bring the family and any other characters Liam encountered while being in Northern Ireland to life. To the story itself it did have the suspense I know and love with a murder mystery because it brought an idea of the past known as the Troubles in Irish History. It was a time where Protestants and Catholics didn’t get along and man it looked dicey for Liam. It did bring up how his dad died since he did get shot while trying to save his sister who also got shot during this time period and more things did get revealed about his family whether the families who were at war with the Taggarts were coming back to go after the rest of them since calling cards shown up in their mailboxes. Even interesting how Katherine was targeted since she did get married into the family and had a kid with Liam since Karolena’s Twins did end on that. What I do notice in this series that the first, third, and now the fifth one I’m reading, The Girl From Berlin are connected to World War II while the second and fourth books are more of a suspense story dealing with family where in the second one, Saving Sophie, had someone from the law firm that Katherine used to work at finding his daughter who was kidnapped by the in-laws in the Middle East while The Trust had Liam get through past family issues in order to keep his uncle’s trust from going into wrong and selfish hands. It does connect to the idea of law since Katherine is connected with how she handles cases but I find this book was more of a Liam thing since it did show how he did work for the C. I. A. at one point. Still it was a really good book. So far with the next one I am seeing some family matters but I will see how that one goes.

Rating: 5 Star Paw Prints Out of 5! I think this one in the series has been Balson’s best due to how he made each character come to life. Heck, I had some chills and mistrust to some of the characters while reading it and how the person reading it made them sound. I felt like I was watching a movie a moment there. It did had its historical fiction parts like with the other books but I felt more drawn to the present and glad that I did get to take the time to read them and now on the fifth book which that will be coming soon once I’m done. If you want to give this a read, I highly recommend along with the others!

That is it for this review! Make sure to check out the link for this book alongside the other books Balson has written that will be linked through the Amazon page I leave behind. Don’t worry the next RangerStop review will be next!
The Trust Liam Taggart & Katherine Lockhart Book 4

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by moonleopard85 on November 30, 2019  •  Link  •  Permalink
Posted in Books, Reviews

Posted by moonleopard85 on November 30, 2019

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2019/11/30/the-book-quadrant-the-trust-by-ronald-h-balson/

The Technology Quadrant: Amazon Echo Buds Review!

Hello to all of my beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the vast universe! Sorry for not posting for a bit because I was sick like Gondras and been busy since my last post! I do have a tech review!

Amazon Echo Buds Review!

Disclaimer: This product review is based on personal experience with the product. Please respect the thoughts and honesty of the lead writer. You have been warned!

So guys it’s holiday time and you know what that means! Holiday Gift Shopping Time! I figured this is appropriate since not only being an Adaptive Tech Instructor but also someone who runs a blog and does review items and talk about new things and that brings me to these babies!

Amazon has been getting into the Accessibility Game this year with new devices and I have gotten into them myself. I did get myself an Amazon Fire Tablet and of course the new Echo Dot 3 with Clock which you saw me set up on the channel and of course got the new Echo Buds. I decided to get these because you know the Apple Air Pods are expensive even with the new ones when these are cheaper and they work as well. I bet you’re wondering why I didn’t make a video. After the Echo Dot video with how bad the app was acting up on my Fire Tablet I figured it was best to do a review over a video since it’s easier for me to talk about it here since there is a feature I do like about them and will explain more. Let’s get into the price and packaging!

Price and Packaging: These are $129.99 and you save a lot than just buying the Air Pods. You can go the way I did since I was running out of funds at the time and that is Five Month Payments where you get to pay monthly instead of the full price. With these you pay shipping on the first payment along with taxes and after that you just pay for the payment price and that is $26 for the remains while the first month is $34. This is not the only device that has this even the Echo Dot series also has it, the new Echo Show also has it and so many other items that aren’t device related are the same way. The packaging when you get it you get the buds in a case which is the re-chargeable case where both buds get charged individually and you do get the USB cable to power up the case for cordless charging which I will explain something cool about this case in a moment, also you get extra ear bud parts for if you lose the parts that go in your ears you can replace them like with other ear buds. You also get these wing parts that slip onto your buds so they can stay on your ear since they can slip. Took me a day to figure that out and got those on and now them stay on.

Set Up: Set up was easier for this than my Echo Dot and my tablet. You need the AlexaaApp but best to use it on your phone that you use. You can use it on Android and IPhone since these buds can use Siri and Google Assistant along with Alexa and you go through the Device set up like with other devices and choose Headphones on the list and Echo Buds show up and you have to make sure to double tap and the process actually starts there. I forgot about double tapping when I first opened them and thought it wasn’t working because if you saw in my Echo Dot video how badly the app was acting up and how touchy it was that it did take two tries to get my Echo Buds to set up. What I do like which I did with my Dot is that I got to rename it and gave it the MST treatment and named it Gypsy, it makes sense with the Alexa bit. I did forget to mention that the first thing when getting these you need to connect to Bluetooth first since these do rely on that all the time.

How Do They Work: How Like the many other products you’re able to ask Alexa anything with these since you do have Flash Briefings, you can ask about the weather, I even enjoy Question of the Day. There are added features to the buds themselves where not only Alexa is with you but you can also use Siri if you’re using it with your IPhone or Google Assistant with your Android. Great thing is that you can hold down on the buds to enable Siri or Google Assistant or can just ask either one and you hear a sound to access them both. Great thing is that these are noise cancelling ear buds. You have to double tap in order to activate Pass Through which you hear everyone around you and double tap again for Noise Reduction where it blocks out everything. I used these during RangerStop by turning on Pass Through and had to set up my camera on my phone ad hear the start of the panel since it was important to hear any updates or the guest intros. I could have used these with Aira but the rain was coming Friday night and not sure how well their water proofing was and didn’t want to risk any shortage because that is a claim with these. With the noise cancellation you can increase how much of background noise you can let in through an app setting. With the case, since I mentioned it, it does give you in the app how much battery it has in both the left and right and of course the case itself. Cool thing is you can ask Alexa with that information. In case you’re wondering about skills, you can evoke certain skills like playing nature sounds, can have NPR as your news, and so much more.

Rating: 5 Star Paw Prints Out of 5! I am enjoying these ear buds due to how versatile they are. Yes, it’s a bit of pain to get the wing parts on to keep them in but having something like this when you can just keep your phone in your pocket or in your purse without worrying about dropping it does come in handy. Trust me when I got my phone back in September and was waiting on my case my phone did fall on my ride home all thanks to the ear bud cord. With these that doesn’t happen. I do love the idea of noise cancellation so I can take a nap without any worry. Plus, these are cheaper than the Apple Air Buds and you can do payment installments instead of full price. I would say if you’re planning to get these wait until Amazon has their back Friday sale or Cyber Monday sale, of course they will probably have a better deal closer to Christmas. I definitely recommend these as a great gift or good for work outs or meditation.

Well guys that is it for this review! I’m glad to do another tech review after a long while. If you guys want me to review the Echo Dot 3 on here, as in the one with the clock, I will gladly do that. In the meantime, I am hoping to start bringing more coverage from RangerStop 7. Stay tuned!

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by moonleopard85 on November 26, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Reviews, Technology

Posted by moonleopard85 on November 26, 2019

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2019/11/26/the-technology-quadrant-amazon-echo-buds-review/

The Convention Quadrant: RangerStop 7 Review!

Hello to all of my beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the vast universe! You’ve waited and it’s time for…

RangerStop 7 Review!

Disclaimer: This review is based on thoughts, opinions, and observations of the lead writer of this blog. Understand that not all thoughts are the same and that she’s honest on what she has observed. You’ve been warned.

So, RangerStop has come and passed and man it was fast but we did had a blast! It was also Gondras’ first year going to this thing and he also had a blast at this thing and got to witness what I had a year ago and during 2015. We did stay at the Wyndham which that’s first!

Hotel: The Wyndham has gone through renovations during 2014 I believe and they knocked some of the buildings down and expanded the main lobby area and there were a ton of ramps and mini stairs added to that area too. When we got there to check in we did have to ask someone for directions to get to the main Registration desk since we did have a room. The good thing is that we did get the event discount which was not bad for just two nights. I felt that the room was bigger than I remembered staying back in 2011 and 2012 where it felt like there was more space to it. Plus, it was just the two of us rather than more people and well reason for just the two of us is that press can only have two people for each team which is pretty fair. We hardly got to hang in the room until Saturday night because we had so many panels and of course talking to people about interviews and so on. This is a very busy convention for us and I’m happy it is and keeps our coverage going. The convention did stick to a small area in the hotel area near the bar inside the lobby and pool area which I did have to find my way back for Power Rangers after Dark but I did use the Aira app to guide me until a tourist helped me to the building. Speaking of events…

Panels & Events: Man, where to start? Friday started off with the Disney Rangers panel where we had cast members from the Disney seasons of Power Rangers. It was a nice start and it did go into more of a thirty minute break in between panels until the night event happened. I felt that the panels were more organized with how they were scheduled and didn’t waste time in starting where if a guest is missing for a bit for a meal or a photo op they do show up a little bit late. Melody Perkins did have to go off during the Psychos vs. Space Rangers for her photo ops but did show up again. I wished she was there for my question that I asked Chris K. Lee about who would win in a fight, Andros or Karone? You will see that in the video! I think the best panels happened to be the Magic Source Mystic Force and the John Tui Experience because it gave a past cast from the Mystic Force season to reunite and of course with John Tui’s thing we got to have a nice chat about his work. One thing we did attend was the Robert Axelrod Memorial. As you guys know, Robert Axelrod has provided the voice to many monsters and Lord Zed in Power Rangers and voices in many anime like in Digimon as an example. Karen Ashley asked for any video that people may had with Robert but I only had the recordings of him coming onstage doing his Lord Zed voice at Omni Year 1 and his panel since I was the only other person at it. Gondras and I did say some words even though I was blubbering like a kid since it did bring a touching memory even when I met him to get my Season 1 Part 1 signed by him and didn’t know he charged but he said since I was Press I wasn’t charged. Really nice of him and wishing I did interview him but knowing a convention schedule being packed for him it was already hard as is. There was also a Memorial for the Red Ninja Storm Ranger’s actor that weekend but didn’t attend that one unfortunately.

Vendor’s Room: It felt a bit small in the select few of vendors. I know it’s a Power Rangers convention but I felt there could have been a bit more. We did purchase two things for ourselves which I got the Solaris Knight t-shirt at John Tui’s table and Gondras went off and bought himself the Doggy Cruger badge from SPD since they were selling them during Saturday and had some left. To be fair I was wearing my SPD shield Sunday. Speaking of guests!

Guests: All the people they have invited were some of the nicest people we’ve met. Karen Ashley even ran into me before the con started when I was waiting for Gondras so we could head for the room after checking in. There is one thing I didn’t know until this convention and that is a new custom and that is Polynesian men give women they first meet a kiss on the cheek. John Tui is part Polynesian and when he gave me a kiss I was a little flustered and surprised and he explained it during his panel about that and glad to know that since if I ever meet Jason Mamoa or The Rock I’m ready! We did get to interview most of the Space cast but the others we got to talk to were booked for the rest of Sunday so hoping we get a chance on Skype. I still need to finish up Time Force since we did interview the guy from Jungle Fury and mentioned that I haven’t watched it yet, also mentioned the main interesting reason of watching it was that one of the masters in that season is blind, I am going through Time Force as I’m writing this review. Thank you Net Flix!

Verdict: CONVENTION ACCOMPLISHED! I feel like this year also earned the Accomplished rating again since this year it was so organized for a smaller convention. We not only got to interview a good portion of the In Space Cast but also crossed off a voice actor off the list of possible people to interview and that is Wally Wingert who played Psycho Blue also Tallest Red in Invader Zim, and any Bleach fans still out there, Renji! It was an amazing time like last year and hoping that we get to go to the one in Atlanta next year because well Gondras had to point out that they will be having Bulk and Skull and Chris Sabat for the Pop Culture side since it is also a Pop Culture convention besides Power Rangers. And when you get Chris Sabat to a convention hijinks ensue! Especially with the picture they shown as his character, All Might from My Hero Academia. Oh man, why do I have an image of All Might taking on a Power Rangers monster? Anyways, it was an amazing convention and if we can’t go to Atlanta, we can always come back for Press at the Orlando one and hoping they are at the Wyndham again since I feel like it is a better place to hold it at and of course in case of phone charging there are more outlets to find because that was a drawback for me at the Holiday Inn.

Needs for Improvement? I would have to agree with an attendee that the Vendors Room should be bigger in a way since they have more space to use. Not only that, they should expand on Vendors since they are expanding slightly into pop culture and feel that need some more vendors especially ones we can afford. The one in the hall was selling a bunch of the Legacy items but they were really pricey. I think her Serpentara, for example, was in the $300 range, ouch! Also, would be kind of cool to get more artists in on this, there was one stand that had an Eric from Time Force print but they weren’t at their stand which was kind of sad because I wanted to know how much for that print which another thing, if you’re running a stand have someone there. A nice little tip.

Well guys that is it for this review! It was an awesome convention and glad we got to go to this one this year. Definitely want to catch it again next year, hoping either Atlanta or Orlando since it has been a blast. Stay tuned for our many videos from this year plus our interviews with some of the guests on our YouTube Channel! Next up, I will be reviewing the Amazon Echo Ear Buds that were released and have been trying them out especially during RangerStop! Until next time stay beautiful while traveling the vast universe!

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by moonleopard85 on November 17, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in conventions, Reviews

Posted by moonleopard85 on November 17, 2019

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2019/11/17/the-convention-quadrant-rangerstop-7-review/

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