Retrograde

Title: Retrograde

Author: Peter Cawdron

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017

Pages: 243

Genre: science fiction

Obtained: from publisher in exchange for an honest review














Summary: An international colony has been established on Mars which is made up of four modules- United States, Chinese, Russian, and Eurasian.  The colonists have become somewhat settled, media attention has died down, and they are well into their scientific research and exploration of the planet.  What happens when a world war breaks out on Earth causing the colonists to lose support and leaving them with many questions?  Strange accidents and malfunctions start to happen on Mars.  Who can be trusted?

Thoughts: Peter Cawdron, who I found to be a well-rounded author, made this fictitious story as true to science as he could.  Best of all, he wrote about science and technology in simple terms with explanations I could understand.  I learned about Mars, space travel, starting a colony on another planet, and even a bit about engineering.  The author has an excellent grasp of psychology and has the characters go through some deeply emotional experiences which are believable.  At the same time I could picture myself in the settings right along with the characters.  The style of writing was clear and organized.  The protagonist was well developed and likeable.  There were many other characters, some of which the reader got to know better than others. This book drew me in immediately and I was engaged right through to the last page.

This was a fantastic book- a science fiction book with both psychological thriller and mystery aspects to it.  It was not what I expected, and therefore, full of surprises for me.  The plot was a simple, common one, but done in a fresh way, so it did not seem old at all.    I found myself thinking "what if this really happened?" throughout the book, not just about the main ideas, but about little occurrences.  It is a great science fiction book for those that like to be kept guessing.  I would recommend this book to anyone ages 15 and above, especially science fiction lovers.




                                                                     

Company: Art of Tea

Tea: Aztec Spice

Obtained: gift








Art of Tea is a tea company based in Los Angeles, California.  They have an extensive variety of teas to purchase on their website including both loose leaf and packaged teas.  They have tea ware and a tea of the month club.  I have been ordering tea from this company for quite awhile and have always had a good experience with them.

Today I enjoyed a cup of Aztec Spice, which is a blend of organic pu-erh, organic cinnamon, organic honeybush, organic cocoa nibs, organic safflower, organic chili flakes, chocolate seeds, and natural flavors.  According to the label, it has a medium caffeine content.  This was not my first experience with this tea.  It is one of my favorite fall teas.

The tea came in a cylindrical tin that is good quality and had an excellent seal, keeping the tea fresh.  The tin was easy to open and I immediately got a strong scent of spicy cocoa and cinnamon.  The brown leaves were all shapes and sizes and intermingled with the leaves were brown chunks and seeds and orange flower petals.

I put 2 teaspoons of the tea in my tea ball, put it in my cup and poured 12 ounces of water over it.  I let this steep for 3 minutes.  The orange brown liquid had a faint chocolate cinnamon scent.  The taste was of sweet chocolate and cinnamon but with a spicy chili pepper aftertaste.  This is an exotic, rich tea that is both sweet and spicy.  It really has a kick to it.  This tea is wonderful, especially as a dessert tea.