The Second Life of Ryan Hunt series by Garritt Overeem

 

Book One: Resurrection

I met Mr. Overeem at a local pop-up vendor market and had such a nice chat with him.  I ended up buying all three of his books, self published, and thought I would just give them a whirl. It has been a while since I read some straight up science fiction.  I forgot how much I enjoy a good space odyssey! 

Now, if science fiction is not your thing, that is totally fine, just move along.  It is ok to skip this review if you don't want anything to do with space ships, aliens, black holes, and urns of 48,000 year old ashes.

Mom, that means you.  Love ya, mean it, Brad Thor has a new one out, go read that. ;-)

But I was pleasantly surprised!!   I originally gave this book three stars, but then I thought, no, I really enjoyed this story and so I bumped it to four, thinking that against all odds this author has published a very original storyline and I really hope others will pick it up so he can continue his work and tell more stories.  Many people are turned off by a three star rating (which still means I liked it), and this series deserves a bump!!

While the premise is really super far-fetched (isn't most sci-fi?  Three years on Mars in The Martian, much??), Overeem's story of a man, Ryan Hunt, whose remains survive tens of thousands of years and many annihilations and worlds only to be rejuvenated with futuristic technology in order to save the universe is actually very readable, relatable, and HUMAN.  Overeem does a great job with the banter between our hero and the determined and smart Dr. Katalina Winslow - you can actually feel their chemistry on the page.  A few awkward passages but overall this story is full of adventure, inventive futuristic life, and so much heart.   Other species are vividly described, and we even get an angel siting as well as other creatures of current mythology.  Think Han Solo meets Meredith Grey - in space.  They are both tough, both struggling with losses from their pasts, and of course Ryan is thrown into a world where nothing is as he remembers it, and then they give him his own AI being in the form of NORA.  

Let the games/chase/adventure begin.  And then continue into book 2!!! (See below:)

"The wonderful thing about life is discovering what you are capable of."

Whoa. I just finished this one last night, after reading the first book over the summer. This one starts off with a Bang, a really great beginning flashback. Then we meet Ryan and Kat again but things are different after what happened in Book One, especially for Kat. Of course a new adventure/danger presents itself and our whole gang are once again off on a mission of saving an entire species this time. I had a bit more trouble following the plot here, but honestly I am not sure that mattered! The new characters introduced here, along with more polished writing, some pretty deep life statements woven in, and THAT DOLL..... great little addition!

Overeem is a local author in my area, and I met him at a vendor faire in the Spring of 2022. Hit it off and thought, I am a Reader, I will read just about anything, let me give this sci-fi series a try and support a local author. Win win! And now I find out that while I did buy his three books, there is a FOURTH one coming! Whoo hoo! How I love a series. So, halfway there, can't wait to see where Ryan and Kat go next, how their relationship grows, and what Nora is going to do about it. HA! I hope Vicki shows up again, she is fun to hate, and we saw a bit of a softer side of her in this book - for about 5 minutes - but it is there. Overeem's imagination continues to offer fascinating ideas of what future life could be like, popping over to another planet just like we drive to the Grand Canyon now. Interesting technology, ideas about DNA enhancement, neural commands, and surviving black holes all make for serious brain candy. Plus, Ryan is just a fun guy - always cracking a joke even when being blasted with lasers or facing down evil spliced species. Plus, wait til you meet his car.

If you like super nerdy space adventures and technology and computers who have feelings, this is a great place to spend an afternoon/weekend. Fun stuff. Thank you Gerrit!