Roberta Writes – Book reviews: Miira (Innerscape #1) and Happy Hour and Other Sorrows #fiction #bookreviews #reading community

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Miira (Innerscape #1) by A.C. Flory

Picture caption: Cover of Miira Innterscape: Book 1 by A.C. Flory

What Amazon says

In 2101, the average life expectancy is one hundred and ten. Miira Tahn, last Lady of Dhurai, is dying at just fifty-two. Faced with a slow, agonizing death, her only hope is Innerscape, a virtual paradise in which the Residents inhabit beautiful, digital bodies indistinguishable from the real thing.

Or so the brochures say. But even Eden had a snake, and once inducted, the Residents of Innerscape can never again return to the real world. If anything goes wrong, they’ll be lost in the dark forever.

Yet for Miira Tahn, even a tenuous hope is better than the fate that awaits her.

‘…sometimes you just have to close your eyes and jump…’

‘Miira’ is the first book of the Innerscape cyle and corresponds to Episode 1 of the original series.

My review

This is an extraordinary book. I have had it on my TBR for a few years, but I am not a big sci fi fan so I put off reading it. Now, I regret waiting as this really is a most intriguing and clever book. I already have the next book in the series and will be reading it in the near future.

Miira is a woman, a refugee, whose life has been reduced to that of a middled aged invalid reliant on a manufactured exoskeleton to help her do everything. All her status and money cannot reverse the damage done to her physical body during her early years as a new refugee in Australia. Faced with a slow and painful death, Miira choses to enter Innerscape, a virtual world for wealthy individuals whose physical bodies can no longer offer them a good life. Despite some anxieties, Miira decides to go ahead and undergo the transition of her body to enter Innerscape. Once transitioned there is no returning to your previous life.

Miira is an excellent character. Highly intelligent and yet vulnerable, the author’s sensitive writing brings Miira to life and I really wanted Innerscape to meet her expectations and make up for everything she’d lost over her relatively short life of 52 years. As in the real world of ordinary humans, nothing is every straight forward. Innerscape is run by people who are subject to many character flaws and these extend into the virtual world they helped to create and run. Miira is a strong and determined woman, one who sets a good example to all female readers, and although this book ended after her integration into Innerscape, the reader knows there is a lot more to come and believes that Miira will overcome whatever is thrown at her in this strange new virtual world because she is a survivor. As a side note, I really liked that Miira chose to return to a younger version of herself when she entered Innerscape and didn’t turn herself into an artificially enhanced ‘Barbie doll’.

One of the reasons I don’t read a lot of sci fi is because I don’t like pages of explanations about future worlds or, alternatively, no explanations at all so I don’t really understand the future world. The author managed to keep the reader completely informed about her created world by showing and through dialogue which made this book a really good experience for me. I could understand exactly how both the future world and the virtual world of Innerscape worked from the behaviours, actions, and conversations that took place.

I highly recommend this book and I am looking forward to reading the the other books in this series.

Purchase Miira (Innerscape book 1) by A.C. Flory from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076GYZBKQ

You can find other books by A.C. Flory on Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/acflory/author/B00B1M04JI

Happy Hour and Other Sorrows by JT Twissel

Picture caption: Cover of Happy Hour and Other Sorrows by JT Twissel

What Amazon says

October 11, 1970

Dear C.

Here I am in PARIS FRANCE! Wow. I’m staying with my uncle’s boss, a gay guy who was some kind of a big wig during WWII which is all they ever talk about here.The war, the war, the war! That trip I told you about to Milan to retrieve a vintage car . . . well it didn’t go so well. The owner DIED on the way home and the Swiss police thought he was MURDERED and so they tried to make me stay but it was too freaky so I split .

Oh, and remember that cute guy GIL? He keeps popping up but I don’t think he really likes me. I think they just want him to keep an eye on me because I supposedly have the KNACK FOR TROUBLE and might poop in a bidet or really kill a burgermeister. Sheesh.

You wouldn’t like it here because they eat BUNNIES and SNAILS and all kinds of gross things. I guess they had to during that damn war. I should be home by Christmas unless another trip goes awry and I end up missing my flight home, AGAIN! And boy, will I have a lot of stories to tell.

Love, Riley

My review

This was a fun romp around Germany, a bit of France and a few other European places through the eyes of a young American college student named Riley. Riley’s Uncle Bob, whom everyone assumes is a spy for the American government, lives in post-WW2 Germany. In an unusual gesture of generosity, he offers to host Riley for a few weeks for a European vacation. Riley’s not that keen as she has her college studies and a boyfriend but her mother is very determined for her to take this unexpected opportunity. And so she does.

The opportunity turns out to take the shape of acting as a driver for her uncle who has been banned from driving by the German authorities. He also turns out not to be a spy but an accountant for the American Government which isn’t quite the same thing. That is what he says, in any event. Regardless, Riley does seize the opportunity and sets out to meet ‘real’ Germans and do things that ‘real’ Germans do. Her uncle, the non-spy, also involves her with various work colleagues who take her on what are planned to be short travel adventures and end up being unexpected catastrophes.

Riley goes to Europe very much a typical American student with limited life experience and this all changes during her time in Germany which ends up being a lot longer than the planned few weeks. The book is a coming of age story and I loved following Riley’s escapades, some her own fault and some imposed on her. It was a most unusual and refreshing read for me.

Purchase Happy Hour and Other Sorrows by JT Twissel from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0F28JXNRL

Find more of JT Twissels books on Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/JT-Twissel/author/B00HZSOZ1K

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Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

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105 thoughts on “Roberta Writes – Book reviews: Miira (Innerscape #1) and Happy Hour and Other Sorrows #fiction #bookreviews #reading community”

    1. -grin- I think so too. Scifi is a strange beast. At its best it’s a Dune or a Left Hand of Darkness or a Stranger in a Strange Land. At its worst it’s…well, it’s not the kind of fiction I enjoy reading. As much as I love tech, it’s the interplay between tech and /people/ that makes me love scifi. 🙂

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        1. Yes! And when it does it becomes something more. I’ve just finished re-reading Dune for the umpteenth time [9 I think but I stopped counting long ago]. Anyway, I discovered yet more that I’d missed in the previous reads. It’s just so rich. lol I’ll stop gushing now. Cheers. 🙂

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          6. There are ‘fantasy’ elements in Dune, but what I love are the socio-political threads. And the environment! Herbert is possibly one of the first modern writers to make the environment of the planet a character in its own right. I really, really like that. 🙂

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  5. I don’t read science fiction either, but I’m sorely tempted by your review of Miira. I got such a big kick out of your Happy Hour review, specifically “I supposedly have the KNACK FOR TROUBLE and might poop in a bidet.” A classmate did just that on our French Club trip to Paris when we were in high school. Boy, was the chambermaid mad!

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  10. These are wonderful, mindful reviews, Robbie. Congrats to AC and JT. I hear echoes of “Upload,” but AC’s sounds more exciting and more serious and with world building. I got a kick out of JT’s title and the cover. It sounds like a great read too. Hugs all around.

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    1. Fingers crossed you like it. Innerscape is character driven scifi so it sits uncomfortably between normal fiction and the very popular military scifi that guys like. Thanks for commenting. 🙂

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          2. That it is. I’m not a particularly gregarious person in real life so it has amazed me how many good friends I’ve made here on WordPress. And yes, it is our community that’s made it possible.

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          4. Yes! I’ve read a lot of the younger ones talking about their ‘tribe’ and I’ve finally understood what they mean.
            lol In my day we used to say our people were kindred spirits. 🙂

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    1. -grin- I have to tell you that I intend to read your book too! I spent a year travelling around parts of Europe back when the dinosaurs were young, and I want to revisit some of the fun I had. Thankfully I don’t think anyone in my student hostel messed up in a bidet but I /can/ imagine it happening. lol

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      1. It certainly was different – no cell phones, no google maps, no email!! I started reading M and it’s so addictive – I can’t wait to read the rest – I am a huge Sci-fi fan! I found your writing similar to LeGuin. Emotionally charged sci-fi with an emphasis on the natural world.

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  18. Two great reviews, Robbie. I also do not lean towards science fiction, but I am often happily surprised to find great stories and writing. Happy Hour and Other Sorrows does sound refreshing and a nice balance against Miira. Thanks for sharing your reviews 🙂

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  19. Hi Robbie! Thank you so much for this fabulous review. Miira and I send you huge hugs. 🙂

    Oh and thank you for the Happy Hour review as well. I have very fond memories of France and Germany so the book is just about to migrate to my Kindle. Cheers!

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      1. I have maybe a day or two before I can start reading but I’m looking forward to it too. Part nostalgia I admit, but your review did make me smile too. 🙂

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  21. Robbie, thank you for another thoughtful review and introduction to A.C. Flory’s book. I always appreciate how you highlight stories that reveal both imagination and depth. Books like these remind us how belonging and love are intertwined; when we connect with an author’s world, we also rediscover something within ourselves. That sense of connection is what keeps me reading.

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    1. Hi Rebecca, I’m delighted I could introduce you to Andrea. I never cease to be amazed by the originality and uniqueness of ideas in this community. So much more so than in the traditionally published book world where these characteristics have disappeared recently. The industry has become to corporate and money orientated for literature as and art form to thrive.

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  23. I read Innerscape, all the series, one after the other. It’s a fascinating world acflory has created, with interesting and complex characters. Definitely a series I’d recommend.

    Happy Hour sounds like it’s well worth a read, too.

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  24. Thanks for the reviews, Robbie! Both books sound excellent.

    I understand how a book can sit in a TBR pile for years, there are so many to read. This is why I only allow 4 in my TBR pile at a time. When one is read and off the pile, another can take its place. Otherwise, I would be overwhelmed, and hide in my drawing.

    I follow both of these author’s blogs, and they are most enjoyable.

    I wish both lots of sales! 🤗🤗

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    1. Hi Resa, I am usually quite good about getting through my enormous TBR, but I am always a little wary of sci fi because I don’t always enjoy it. Miira is actually wonderful. It is a character driven story in an intriguing AI setting. Happy Hour is fun and I enjoyed the MC’s journeys around parts of Europe through the eyes of an American youngster.

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