Loonigrrl’s guest review of Grimspace (The Jax Series, Book 1) by Ann Aguirre
Sci-Fi romance released by Ace 26 Feb 08

This book was a very pleasant surprise. Ok, it was more than that. It was awesome. Sure, I enjoy sci-fi just as much as the next Star Trek-Star Wars-Firefly/Serenity-Battlestar Galactica fan.  But when it comes to books, I usually choose to read fantasy or romance. In fact, Grimspace is one of the very few science fiction books that I have absolutely loved.

Sirantha Jax is an extremely compelling heroine. A J-gene carrier and the only survivor of a shipwreck that killed 82 people, Jax is a nearly broken woman when the story begins. Facing charges that may have her thrown in prison, a psych ward, or killed, she barely hesitates when an unlikely hero comes to her rescue.

March, a powerful Psi, is equally damaged, although that’s not immediately apparent. He’s strong, dominant, a little mean, and a little uncivilized. Despite having done some mysteriously monstrous things in his past, he’s completely loyal to those in his care, and would risk his life to save one of his own. Breaking Jax out of jail is just the beginning. March’s and the crew’s ultimate goal is to break the Farwan Corporation’s monopoly on Jumpers and Faster than Light Travel.

Some of the sci-fi details in Aguirre’s world were somewhat challenging concepts about travel, and I just let it go. I accepted that I wasn’t going to totally understand “jumping” and “Grimspace.” And I was ok with that because as integral as jumping is to the story, it’s supposed to be a little complicated. Jumpers can’t even describe the mysteries and the wonder of Grimspace despite devoting their lives, and often losing them, to jumping.

I’m not really sure how to describe Sirantha and March’s relationship, and I can’t do it justice. It’s complicated and it’s not easy. March was all too willing to hate Jax upon first meeting her. Jax, upon realizing March could read her thoughts, was all too quick to bait him. It doesn’t take long for each to realize the other was more than they seemed. Their relationship is simply… fascinating, and actually, quite sweet.

As much as I liked both Sirantha and March, and their complicated love story, I was equally as intrigued by the secondary characters.  All were varied and unique, and entirely real. In fact, one character - an insect-like bounty hunter named Velith, who doesn’t even make an appearance until the very end of the story –  quickly became one of my favorites after just a few pages.

The only aspect of Grimspace that I wasn’t absolutely thrilled about is the ending. It is intense.  Seriously intense, which isn’t a bad thing. However, I just felt like too much was rushed in the last few pages. I also felt like the resolution was a little too tidy. I liked the ending, but after everything that had happened, it felt a little easy.

Regardless, I can definitely recommend Grimspace. Just a warning – it’s told in first-person, which may be jarring for some readers. Please don’t let that dissuade you from checking this out. It’s not just a great sci fi/romance book, it’s a great book. Period.

Grade: A-

From the back cover:

     By all accounts, Sirantha Jax should have burned out years ago…

As the carrier of a rare gene, Jax has the ability to jump ships through grimspace-a talent which cuts into her life expectancy, but makes her a highly prized navigator for the Corp. But then the ship she’s navigating crash-lands, and she’s accused of killing everyone on board. It’s hard for Jax to defend herself: she has no memory of the crash.

Now imprisoned and the subject of a ruthless interrogation, Jax is on the verge of madness. Then a mysterious man breaks into her cell, offering her freedom-for a price. March needs Jax to help his small band of rogue fighters break the Corp monopoly on interstellar travel-and establish a new breed of jumper.

Jax is only good at one thing-grimspace-and it will eventually kill her. So she may as well have some fun in the meantime…

Read an excerpt.

Loonigrrl, reader and commenter, shares a fun list that has my brain working overtime thinking of the possibilities… 

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Imagine that ideal world where movie directors, screen writers,and producers all shared your vision of your favorite book. A world where studios were less concerned about casting a BIG STAR, and more concerned with maintaining the integrity of the production. *cough* Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse?!?!?Are you kidding me?!!? *cough, cough*

Thinking of which books I’d choose to see on the big screen wasn’t hard. What was hard was stopping at just twelve.

12 Books I Want to See on the Big Screen (in no particular order)

1.  Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. Ohmigod, I love the romance. I love Edward. I love that he loves Bella, but kind of wants to have for dinner, too. I just love everything about it. I added Twilight to the list, but I actually think it’s already being made into a movie. We’ll see soon enough if it lives up to our expectations, right?

2.  Stardoc by S.L. Viehl. Ok, so it’s not a romance, but it does have a romance in it. And the main character Cherijo is brilliant,witty, strong, independent, and resourceful. It’s got some action, although not as much as the others in the series,but it’s such a clever book that I think it would be a very fun movie.

3.  It Had to Be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Honestly, this isn’t my favorite SEP book. Does anyone else obsess over Honey Moon? Man,that one makes me cry every time. Love it. But I love this one too, and it’s got the trademark SEP humor, and a wonderful romance. It would need a great screenwriter, but I think there’s some potential there.

4.  Green Rider by Kristen Britain. Green Rider is just so much fun to read that I think a movie would be equally fun to watch. The story starts when our heroine, Karigan G’ladheon, stumbles upon a dying Green Rider- a messenger for the King- and promises to deliver his message for him, risking death and worse to do so. The characters are great, there’s plenty of action, but I think the director is going to be an important choice for this one. I’m not sure who I’d choose, but I do like what Andrew Adamson did with The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

5.  The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson. This book is intense! I loved it and I think it would make an equally intense movie.The art direction and cinematography stand out to me as being particularly important.

6.  Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder. Right from the beginning, Poison Study sucked me in. Casting is once again huge. Yelena and Valek have got to have amazing chemistry, and let’s face it: Valek must be hot. I’d be willing to make an exception to my no celebrity rule, and allow Christian Bale to be cast.

7.  Ill Wind by Rachel Caine. Of all these book, I think I’d most like to see Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden series made into a movie. There’s a lot of action, the heroine’s spunky, the romance is sweet and the idea is just super cool. But the effects are huge, so it’s got to be a director who can direct AND who knows his special effects. I guess that leaves you out, Chris Columbus, sorry.

8.  Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh. An amazing story, an amazing world with amazing characters. Has anyone not read Slave to Sensation? Seriously?!? Go. Now. To the bookstore. Go buy it. Ok, that being said: wouldn’t it make a fantastic movie? Well, I’ve got my doubts that anyone could do it justice, but if it could be done right, I’d really like to see it up on the big screen.

9.  Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas. I almost didn’t include this because I didn’t think anyone could truly capture Derek Craven, but . . . it’s one of my favorites, so I couldn’t help myself.

10.  The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn. I think this could be such a sweet, funny movie, if it were done right . . . And that means no Keira Knightley. No offense, Keira, you just seem to be everywhere these days.

11.  Into the Dark Lands by Michelle Sagara. I’d love to see someone try to make this one into a movie. It’s one of my all time favorites, and it’s just so tragic and beautiful, I had to add it to the list.

12.  Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody. Actually, I’d like to see the entire series made into movies. I honestly don’t know why it hasn’t been done yet. Everything’s there- a fascinating world, complicated characters,action, etc. Finding enough talented children to fill all the roles would be a problem, but I think it could be done.

Ok, there you have ‘em. Now, what about you? I know I left plenty out so . . . which books would you like to see on the big screen?