Ash’s Duckies Do Series Review of The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
Young Adult Science Fiction published by Scholastic Sept 08 – Aug 10

I’ve been wondering for days how to write this review, because I don’t think I can do these books justice. Suzanne Collins is an amazing author, and these books are some of the best I’ve read.  There is also no way for me to avoid spoilers, so be warned.

The Hunger Games
14 Sep 08

These books are one long, intense, heartbreaking journey. What starts here does not stop until the very end of Mockingjay. Right away I was drawn into Katniss’ life, her thoughts, her relationships. She is a strong character and it’s easy to root for her. The idea of children fighting to the death as entertainment is truly awful, having to see it through Katniss’ eyes makes it even worse. Watching her change from a teen who supports her mother and sister to someone who will kill to stay alive is at times agonizing. When she holds and sings to another girl who lies dying, I lost it.

Then there is Peeta. When I read this book the first time, I was Team Gale (her friend and hunting partner) all the way. The second time around I’m able to see just how special Peeta is. He is the heart of this series. At the end, which is really just the beginning, Katniss doesn’t yet know about the war that is brewing. Or that she will be the catalyst to set it off.

I think the build-up to book 2, Catching Fire, is done perfectly.

Grade A+

Summary:

Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, “The Hunger Games.” The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When her sister is chosen by lottery, Katniss steps up to go in her place.

Read an excerpt.

Catching Fire
01 Sep 09

As much as this book is a bridge between The Hunger Games and Mockingjay, it also stands on its own as a very important part of the story. Katniss doesn’t get a break and neither do the readers. There really is no rest for Katniss and Peeta, they have to go on their victory tour and they find out just how evil President Snow is when he calls for previous winners to go back into The Hunger Games.

One of the things with this series is that no one is safe. Suzanne Collins is not afraid to break hearts and one of the deaths I was most upset about happens in Catching Fire. Cinna is Katniss’ stylist, and he seems to be the only one who she’s able to be real with. He might have been in with the Rebels, but I feel like he saw her as more than a weapon against the Capitol. His death is one that, up until the end, I was hoping wasn’t real.

Peeta is still there by her side, and by this book I am desperately hoping that they get a happy ending together. Katniss also has to deal with Gale, who wants her to pick him over Peeta.

The cast gets bigger, we meet more of the previous winners and we get to like a few of them. Of course, it just sets us (and Katniss) up for more heartache This is the book when Katniss starts to get mad and we see her changing yet again into a soldier.

Grade: A

Summary:

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she’s afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her more is that she’s not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol’s cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can’t prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

Read an excerpt.

Mockingjay
24 Aug 10

Mockingjay is everything I was hoping for — and a lot I wasn’t. Things are just a mess and Katniss is right in the middle of it.

Peeta is being held captive by the Capitol and the war is going on stronger than ever. In this book I didn’t like who Katniss becomes, though after what she has been through it’s almost expected. Everything has just become too much at times and her mental health is definitely suffering. I think losing Peeta made her lose a part of herself, even if she doesn’t realize it. They became a team, and I felt his absence from the book just as much.

Then we get Peeta back and he is damaged, badly. The torture he’s put through has left its mark and seeing him and Katniss fighting each other is hard. Like I said, Peeta is the heart, but here he is finally broken down. The way Katniss deals with Peeta (and some other things) makes me hate her at times. He deserves better, and by the time she figures it out, I wanted to shake her.

While this is going on, they are fighting away. Katniss goes into battle and plays her role as the face of the Rebels in District 13. It’s hard to see who the good guys are, District 13 looks like it is just the lesser of two evils. The prove they will do whatever they have to in order to win, and in the end it’s the people who suffer. Both sides are lacking morals, and it makes things that much harder on Katniss.

There is also another death that leaves its mark with me, though not the same one that effects the story the most. Fellow Hunger Games victor Finnick becomes a casualty of war. I actually found myself days later thinking of a funny scene with him, and then getting sad when I remembered he died.  In the end the Capital is taken down, but  no one really wins.

My one complaint with this book is the epilogue. I wanted more closure with some of the other characters. I was ecstatic to see Peeta and Katniss together in their future, but I grew to love all the other characters. I wanted more of them, to know what happened to them. Especially Gale and Haymitch (who, though I have left out of this review, is a major character, another one I loved and hated). With Gale, I am hoping he is happy in the future and still in touch with Katniss. though I got the impression that isn’t the case. While I wanted Peeta to be the one she chose, I couldn’t not like Gale. If Peeta isn’t in the picture, I would have wanted her to end up with him.

Sadly, as great as all the books were, I’m left wanting more of the one thing I was hoping for.

Grade: A

Summary:

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

Read an excerpt.

There is a ton of things I left out, there is no way I can cover it all. So much happens, so I focused on what stuck with me the most, even then I left out so much, since I could probably write pages about my thoughts on this. I can’t say this is a happy series, it is basically one traumatic event after another. People I care about died, I got angry, I cried, I hated the characters, and I loved them all at the same time.

Then there are the bright moments, the relationships, the jokes and happy times. These books are keepers, but I don’t know if I will be able to read them again and put myself through this emotional ride. I do know that if you haven’t read these books, you are missing out on an incredible tale. The pain is worth it, and days later I am still thinking about these characters.

Overall Grade: A+

It should come as no surprise to any of you that I am a fan of science-fiction.  I love it in all mediums – books, movies, television, manga, graphic novels, and good ol’ comic books.  It’s all good to me. Love Heinlein, Bradbury, LeGuin, Asimov, Herbert, Zelazny, etc.  And lately, I am finding sci-fi romances to be particularly fun.

But, no. WAIT! I’m a GIRL! That must mean I’m “ruining” sci-fi for all the Spanky and Alfalfas out there.  Let me explain… 

I ran across a post over on Karen Scott’s blog where she picks out the best quotes found on the web that week.  She was sharing a quote from a post written by author John Scalzi.  John was commenting on yet a different post written by an unmitigated jackass about how women (and gays, apparently) were ruining science-fiction.  Still with me here?

I’m not going to link to the original simpleton’s post because they don’t deserve it.  However, you can find it if you do a Google search for asswipes er, “The War on Science Fiction and Marvin Minsky”.  “War”?  Really? Hyperbole much?

Now.  I know and you know that statements like the following are merely misogynistic twaddle and deserve less than our attention.  Nevertheless, I was a bit outraged (like the sun is a bit hot) that this fool could be so misinformed (I’m guessing it’s been a while since his last blowjob):

“As we know, science fiction has inspired boys to pursue careers in science, engineering, and technology as grown men.  With women killing science fiction on television, the current generation of boys won’t have this opportunity to be inspired to work in these fields.  There is still a great deal of written science fiction that is real science fiction, so all is not lost.  However, many boys who would have gone on to make scientific discoveries and invent new technologies will not do so since they will never be inspired by science fiction as boys.”

Statements like that imply women aren’t inspired by science-fiction (news to me and my women friends who are engineers), and that women in science-fiction aren’t inspiring to others.  Guess I shouldn’t have read any of that nasty old Ursula K. LeGuin, Mary Shelley, or Anne McCaffrey.  Ruined me, apparently.  ::eyes rolling::

By the by, who else thinks this guy still lives in his mom’s basement, eating cheese from a can and drinking Mountain Dew while typing his blog posts in a bathrobe?  I agree with John Scalzi when he says that this jackass needs to…

“… STFU and take his ignorant ass back to his snug little wank hole…”

I’ll close while doing as John has suggested – just point and laugh my ever lovin’ ass off.

Limecello’s review of Undercover by Lauren Dane
Erotic sci-fi romance published by Berkley on 2 Dec 08

Undercover put Lauren Dane on the bestseller’s list, and for good reason. I’ve really enjoyed Ms. Dane’s writing, and think that each of her works that I’ve read is better than the last. Make sure you have a lot of time when reading this book, because you won’t want to put it down.

I liked  the world Ms. Dane created with Undercover. I’m not really into sci-fi or futuristic books, but I enjoyed this one despite that fact. (Yes that does make Undercover impressive, doesn’t it?) The description of each ‘Verse (Universe), the communication systems, military, etc. were all done extremely well. I could picture everything clearly in my head. The setting was intricate, but not confusing. I never had to stop and re-read (or read again) sections to make sure I understood everything. I also love how different each ‘Verse was. The setting gives the story layering and depth, but doesn’t steal the reader’s focus from the characters, or plot.

Sera is a great heroine. She’s a tough soldier, but has a wealth and depth of emotion as well. She’s an extremely good person, and admirable. All her qualities make the romance and relationship believable. Many of Sera’s characteristics are understated, and I like that Ms. Dane has you discover Sera for yourself throughout the book, rather than throwing it in your face what you’re supposed to think about her. What also makes Sera special is her vulnerability, and how very genuine she is. She has moments of uncertainty, but overcomes every challenge she meets.

Brandt and Ash are fantastic characters. They’re so very similar, yet at the same time, foils of one another. Both Ash and Brandt are extreme alphas, rich, aristocratic, and officers in the military. Enough said, right? They’re both intelligent, sexy, and able. Yet gentle, and open with Sera. In fact, they push the emotional connection and relationship first. It’s nice to have heroes who are so in touch with their feelings. Yet it doesn’t make them soft, or sappy.

Yes, this book is an erotic romance, it has some elements of BDSM, and is a ménage à trois. While the relationship seems extremely complicated, it isn’t ludicrous. Ms. Dane gives the dynamics of the triangle the attention it deserves, and makes it believable. I really appreciated how carefully crafted every aspect of Undercover was. And yes, it’s hot. Very hot – which only makes the book that much better.

One thing I noticed while reading was some of the dialogue. At times (when Sera spoke), I found the cadence of her speech odd. It didn’t exactly fit with the previous flow of conversation. It felt a little bit like the speech was used as an explanation, or plot device, more than following the previous speech pattern and rhythms. It’s hard to convey, and wasn’t commonplace, it just happened enough for me to notice it.

I recommend this book to those who like sci-fi, erotic romance, and Ms. Dane’s writing. I enjoyed this book a lot, and had to pace myself to draw out the reading experience. I know Ms. Dane is writing another book set in the same universe, and I can’t wait for that. In fact, I can’t wait to get my greedy little hands on any of Ms. Dane’s upcoming works. While waiting, I plan on reading Undercover again.

Grade: A-

Summary:

A sexy debut exploring an erotic future universe of passion, danger, and deceit…

On the battleground or in the bedroom, one woman and two men fight for dominance in a bold, new, and excitingly different direction in erotica…

As a lieutenant of the Federation military, Sera Ayers is accustomed to giving orders, not taking them. Now she must obey the one man she can’t stand—and can’t stop thinking about.

With the enemy Imperialists gaining ground, a covert team is assembled by Ash Walker. Ten years before, Sera had lovingly submitted to Ash’s dominance in the bedroom. But when he was forced into a political marriage, she refused to play mistress. His marriage now over, Ash wants Sera on his team—and back in his bed.

The third team member, Brandt Pela, has an elegance to match Ash’s savage sexuality. And when their undercover plan requires Sera to pose as Brandt’s lover, it ignites a passion among the three of them more dangerous than their mission.

Read an excerpt.

Shannon C.’s review of Conflict of Honors by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Science fiction released by Del Rey May 88, re-release by Ace 30 Dec 08

Every once in a while, I like to revisit my teenaged reading self. This is probably the only part of my teenaged self that doesn’t perpetually irritate me, but that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, in my teens, I read lots of science fiction and fantasy of the pretty girl has unusual powers, grows up, saves the world, rides a dragon and finds romance with a sensitive man that doesn’t exist in real life type. Reading Conflict of Honors, I was brought back to those stories, although Conflict of Honors has a surprisingly adult feel to it, all things considered. [Ed.: Mouse over the cover to see the original release cover.]

The plot of this novel goes like this. Girl gets exiled from her home world, falls in with the crew of a bad ship, including a psycho lesbian. She eventually escapes and winds up on a good ship, captained by our hero, who has a vendetta against the owner of the bad ship. The girl begins to heal from the horrible things that happen to her, and eventually falls in love. Things move swiftly, and I was never bored, nor was I stuck on too many scientific terms. There was the right amount of adventure and diplomacy to keep me interested, and no extraneous space battles and high-tech futuristic weapons descriptions.

To be honest, Priscilla Mendoza, our heroine, is a bit of a Mary Sue. She is pretty and special, and doesn’t seem to have very many character flaws, and people are drawn to her in order to cure her various issues. But despite all that, she worked for me, although I wasn’t really clear on exactly why it was that she was exiled in the first place.

Shan, our hero, on the other hand… Oh, Shan. How much do I love him? I am a sucker for characters who are smart, and who spend the book actually demonstrating superior intelligence. Shan comes off as a bit of a nattering fool, which seems to be what he goes for, but beyond his genial, talkative facade is a man with a quick mind and a big heart. Though there was no actual sex between Shan and Priscilla, they definitely had chemistry, and I believed the relationship.

The other secondary characters are well-drawn, as is the setting. This is one of the earliest books in the authors’ Liaden Universe series. It’s clear that they’ve thought a lot about their world-building, and I am left wondering about the Liadens themselves, and wanting to explore their culture, which is quite fascinating.

This book gets an automatic A from me because of the fact that I stayed up way too late finishing it. Even though it is not the first book chronologically, nor is it the first published, it was easy to follow and was a good starting point for me. Ace is reprinting this book in December, and I think it’s definitely something to order if you like science fiction. I am so glad that whoever it was who pointed this series out to me did so, and I intend to read the other books as soon as I can.

Grade: A

Summary:
Betrayed and abandoned by her shipmates, Priscilla Delacroix is left to fend for herself on a distant planet and joins forces with starship captain Shan yos’Galen to seek revenge on the sinister crew and to confront the demons of Priscilla’s past, in the third novel of the Liaden Universe. Reprint.

No excerpt available.

Shannon C.’s review of Memory (Miles Vorkosigan Adventures) by Lois McMaster Bujold
Science fiction released by Baen 1 Oct 96

Lois McMaster Bujold has made her way onto my list of favorite authors of all time. I have yet to read a book she’s written that I haven’t loved, and I tend to space her books apart so that I won’t run out. Such has been the case with her Miles Vorkosigan series, which has been highly recommended to me by lots of people, and which I in turn highly recommend. Recently, I felt the need for a Miles fix, and I’m so glad I got one, as this book was no exception.

Miles Vorkosigan is a remarkable man. An attempted assassination that failed resulted in his mother being poisoned, which in turn resulted in Miles being born dwarfish, with brittle bones. This isn’t a good thing on Barrayar, his home planet, where deformed children were generally euthanized at birth. So Miles has had a lot to work through, and he’s done so quite remarkably, becoming one of the most trusted members of Barrayar’s Imperial Security agency, and commanding a fleet of space mercenaries that unofficially does things to benefit the empire.

However, all of that is taken away from him when the seizures that have been the result of miles’ stay in a cryochamber during Mirror Dance end up endangering someone’s life on a rescue mission. He is discharged from his Imperial Security duties, and finds himself at loose ends, unsure what he should do with himself. Then trouble arrives right on Barrayar, and Miles has to step up once again to figure out what’s going on.

It’s probably obvious that I love Miles to distraction. As someone with a disability myself, watching Miles overcome all of his is inspirational. Miles wants so much out of life, and watching him try to figure out why this is and what he gets to do about it now that he’s getting too old to go gallivanting around the galaxy is wonderful. Plus, there are moments of sly humor, as he struggles to figure out what to do with the fact that he’s a bachelor on his own in his parents’ house for the first time. This is a quieter story than some of the other Miles books, which allows time for the reader to breathe and reflect, and I like that.

The other characters are great, too. It was nice to get more of a glimpse at Simon Ilyan, the head of Imp-Sec, and Miles’s Aunt Alys was delightful. We even get to watch Barrayar’s Emperor Gregor have his own shot at romance, which causes its own kind of chaos. And I’m eager to read the next book in the series, in which we actually get to meet Miles’ future Lady Vorkosigan.

As I said, the plot is a bit less frenetic than the previous installments of the series. It’s more of a conventional mystery, but it’s the best kind because I couldn’t figure it out ahead of time. If I have any quibbles with this plot, it would be that things do seem to drop into Miles’s lap a lot more frequently than I think is altogether realistic. But Miles goes through a lot of bad things so a few minor coincidences don’t detract all that much.

Fans of character-driven science fiction really owe it to themselves to find this series and read it. Start with Shards of Honor and Barrayar and then meet Miles in The Warrior’s Apprentice. I think you could pick this book up and figure out what was going on, but for a deeper insight into the characters, starting at the beginning is helpful.

Grade: A-

Summary:

Dying is easy. Coming back to life is hard. At least that’s what Miles Vorkosigan thinks and he should know, having done both once already. That was when he last visited the planet of Jackson’s Whole, while rescuing his brother. Thanks to quick thinking on the part of his staff, and incredible artistry on the part of the specialist who revived him, his first death won’t be his last. But his next one might be, a realization he finds profoundly unsettling. Even after he returns to military duty, his late death seems to be having a greater effect than he’s willing to admit. Unfortunately, his weakness reveals itself to the world at large at just the wrong time and in just the wrong way, and Miles is summoned home to face Barrayaran security chief Simon Illyan. But when things begin to go subtly wrong in Imperial Security itself, “Who shall guard the guardians?” becomes a more-than-rhetorical question with a potentially lethal answer. Things look bad, but they are far worse than Miles imagines, as he discovers his worst nightmares about Simon Illyan don’t compare to Illyan’s worst nightmares–or are they memories?

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series, in reading order (where possible, the latest mass market paperback release is linked):

LauraD’s review of Wanderlust (The Jax Series, Book 2) by Ann Aguirre
Science fiction released by Ace 26 Aug 08

Ann Aguirre debuted with Grimspace; the sci-fi page turner about a rag-tag group of space adventurers being chased by both sides of the law. Wanderlust continues the story of Sirantha Jax and her friends, immediately after the events of Grimspace have concluded. Once again, it’s a story that grabs you right off the bat.

Jax has been a “jumper” her whole career-she has a special genetic makeup that allows her, in close concert with a pilot, to navigate ships through space at faster than the speed of light. It’s all she’s ever known, and it’s provided her with a good life-but due to events in the previous book, that life is over. Jax has no job, no money, no prospects, no where to live. When she is asked to become an ambassador to another planet, she has little choice but to say yes. However, she smartly stipulates that her travel companions must be the crew from her ship, including her lover, the captain March. She will also be accompanied by Vel, who once hunted her as a bounty and then saved her life; their destination is Vel’s home planet. Along her way, she will face many enemies, both close and distant.

Jax is a very complex character. She is lonely down to her soul, and can’t quite believe that it’s worth risking the pain of loss when you let people in. She and March have formed a relationship, but it’s written with a lot of angst and second guessing on Jax’s part. In addition to her financial issues and the loss of her career, the author has also thrown another problem Jax’s way-she is sick and getting sicker all the time, and has no idea of what is making her ill.

One of the many things I loved about this book is how tightly written the main characters are, and there is some great dialogue. Ship’s mechanic Dina serves as Jax’s verbal sparring partner, Vel is there for discussions of philosophy and politics, March is emotion and work. Then there is Jael, a new shipmate who is something of an enigma to all of them.

In Aguirre’s world, humans have to deal with multiple species that see us as just a snack on the food chain. The Morgut and the Teras are two vile and terrifying examples, and both are featured prominently in Wanderlust. The Teras in particular affect the team; while visiting the planet Lachion, Jax and company get involved in a war that takes them deep underground to escape the flying Teras. They become separated by both space and ideals, and it’s this war that may split up the crew for good. Questions of love, debt, and honor come into play; but no character’s courage is ever in doubt.

It is not necessary to have read Grimspace before reading Wanderlust, but doing so will give you a much better understanding of not just the characters, but their experiences. March, in particular, is a much richer character for having read both books; I think each title on it’s own only shows one side of him. It also helps to know the back story on Lachion, but again isn’t necessary.

I am enjoying the way that Ann Aguirre is building her world slowly, layer by layer. The introduction of new characters like Jael, who feels like he will be a big player in the series, and Hit who provides such necessary comic relief, are done seamlessly. Then there is Constance-I have a feeling Constance is going to be my favorite character, she is genius.

Wanderlust is a great book, and I am greatly looking forward to seeing where Jax, March, and the rest of the crew end up next.

Grade: A

Summary:

Sirantha Jax doesn’t take chances…she jumps at them…

Sirantha Jax is a “Jumper,” a woman who possesses the unique genetic makeup needed to navigate faster than light ships through grimspace. Jax has worked for the Farwan Corporation her entire career. But now the word’s out that the Corp deliberately crashed a passenger ship, and their stranglehold on intergalactic commerce has crumbled-which means that Jax is out of a job.

She’s also broke, due to being declared dead a little prematurely. So when the government asks her to head up a vital diplomatic mission, Jax takes it. Her mandate: journey to the planet Ithiss-Tor and convince them to join the Conglomerate.

But Jax’s payday is light years away. First, she’ll have to contend with Syndicate criminals, a stormy relationship with her pilot, man-eating aliens, and her own grimspace-weakened body. She’ll be lucky just to make it to Ithiss-Tor alive…

Read an excerpt here (scroll down).

Other books in the series:

Shannon C.’s review of Wanderlust (The Jax Series, Book 2) by Ann Aguirre
Science fiction released 26 Aug 08 by Ace

In Grimspace, Ann Aguirre introduced the reader to Sirantha Jax, messed-up space jumper extraordinaire, and March, her pilot-turned-lover. Readers seemed to be of two minds about that book — some of them loved it, as I did — and some found Jax to be too abrasive. I have a feeling that polarizing effect will continue for readers in Wanderlust, particularly since it veers more into straight SF territory than Grimspace did. The romance is still present, but it takes a back seat to Jax’s continued emotional development. I think this is a good thing, and I can’t wait to see what else Ms. Aguirre has in store for Jax in this series.

Jax has to deal with a lot in the book, as she is given an offer she can’t refuse to serve as an ambassador for the Conglomeration, which is trying to strengthen its position in the galaxy after the collapse of the corporation Jax worked for in the previous book. Unfortunately, there are people who don’t want Jax to succeed, believing that her tendency to fuck things up royally will weaken the Conglomeration’s already tenuous position. Plus, Jax seems to be suffering from some sort of illness, and thus, things are a little strained between herself and March.

This series reminds me of nothing so much as the TV show “Firefly”. We have the crew of disparate misfits who seem to attract trouble wherever they go who spend a lot of time wittily bantering back and forth. In this book we get a few new editions to the crew, from Jael, a mercenary with secrets of his own who will probably polarize readers as well, to Hit, about whom we know very little. March, Vel, Dina and Doc still play crucial parts in the story, and we learn more about Jax’s family.

Where the book doesn’t quite work for me is that Jax really does have the worst timing in the history of ever. And when other characters take pains to point this out, it ceases to be funny and starts to feel a bit like authorial intrusion.

I did like the SF aspects of the story, which were detailed enough to keep even me satisfied but didn’t overwhelm the story with too much technical jargon. And I finished the book with a keen anticipation for the next book, because Jax can only get more awesome from here.

Grade: B+

Read other reviews and information behind the Jax Series tag.

Summary:

Sirantha Jax doesn’t take chances…she jumps at them…
Sirantha Jax is a “Jumper,” a woman who possesses the unique genetic makeup needed to navigate faster than light ships through grimspace. Jax has worked for the Farwan Corporation her entire career. But now the word’s out that the Corp deliberately crashed a passenger ship, and their stranglehold on intergalactic commerce has crumbled—which means that Jax is out of a job.

She’s also broke, due to being declared dead a little prematurely. So when the government asks her to head up a vital diplomatic mission, Jax takes it. Her mandate: journey to the planet Ithiss-Tor and convince them to join the Conglomerate.

But Jax’s payday is light years away. First, she’ll have to contend with Syndicate criminals, a stormy relationship with her pilot, man-eating aliens, and her own grimspace-weakened body. She’ll be lucky just to make it to Ithiss-Tor alive…

Read an excerpt here (scroll down).

Other books in the series:

Shannon C.’s review of Callahan’s Legacy by Spider Robinson
Science fiction novel released by Tor 15 Sep 97

One of the reasons that I started reviewing correlates directly with something Spider Robinson said in the first of his Callahan’s books: “Shared joy is increased, shared pain is lessened.” I know there’s nothing that makes me feel better than knowing that someone loved a book as much as I did. And even if nobody else read a book I hated, I at least feel better after I’ve written my thoughts on the book.

This is why, when I finished the seventh book in the Callahan’s Series, I chose to talk about it here, even though it’s not a romance, and it’s in the middle of a series, so I don’t expect a huge overlap in readership. (Not that the non-romance thing has ever stopped me before.) The book left me feeling so angry that I figured I might as well talk about it here.

The Callahan’s books are basically about this out of the way bar in New York which seems to attract a diverse clientele, from talking dogs to cyborg aliens to benign vampires to, well, science fiction fanboys who are anviliscious self-inserts for the author. The first few books of the series are wonderful, especially the first one. Then it became obvious that Mr. Robinson was basically writing to his fans, and the books stopped being fun.

In this latest installment, well, it’s a typical evening down at the bar. Some interesting characters walk in, including a guy named Buck Rogers who has some serious money to burn (literally), a man who cannot feel pain, and a woman who is ugly enough to stop a clock. Then, of course, the bar denizens are required to save the world. Again. If you are sensing a somewhat weary, been-there-done-that tone from the writing of this paragraph, it’s because it’s intentional. All Callahan’s books start out this way. It’s usually charming, except when it’s not. And in this case it’s not more often than it is.

The major problem that I had with this installment in the Callihan universe aside from the fact that the formula’s getting a bit stale is that Spider Robinson’s politics and mine do not mesh. Normally, I can ignore that. I just hate being preached to, and this book was sooo freaking preachy. Not only that, but there was a whole section where the characters talk about how it’s really OK that a thirteen-year-old boy experimented sexually with his stepfather if the kid initiated it. Uh, no. No, it’s not. I could write an entire blog post about why I find this idea so incredibly repellent, but this is really not an appropriate forum.

I did enjoy Spider Robinson’s humor, and I liked seeing old characters, but, ugh, I simply couldn’t get past the OMGWTFBBQ factor of that whole child sexuality thing. As I said, the first three Callahan’s books are wonderful, and you can even read up to the fifth book and still get a good experience, but I won’t be finding out what else happens to the Callahan’s gang.

Grade: D+

Summary:
It’s more than twenty years since Spider Robinson revealed the existence of Callahan’s bar, and the original bar is gone. Mike Callahan is gone, too, but not forgotten. His spirit lives on in the new bar, called Mary’s Place, named for his daughter.

On this particular morning, Jake Stonebender, proprietor of Mary’s Place, wakes up and crawls out of bed, not realizing how big a mistake he’s made. It’s going to be one of those days. It’s not that his lovely wife, Zoey Berkowitz, is nine and a half months pregnant. Maybe it’s the early morning knock on the door and the incredibly ugly person who greets Jake and startles him so badly that he spills Zoey’s urine sample – all over the misshapen mistake of nature standing in front of him. That’s when he realizes that this is going to be a day of reckoning.

After this inauspicious start, the day takes a turn for the worse when a huge storm rips the roof off the bar – and moments later drops another, better roof on it. Then the guy with the suitcase full of hundred-dollar bills arrives and starts making them into paper airplanes that he cheerfully launches toward the fireplace.

That’s when Mary Callahan and her husband, Mickey Finn, show up, unconscious, appearing literally out of nowhere. And they have bad news. They’ve come to warn the barfolk that a three-eyed, three-toed, three-everythinged purple monster – the nastiest, most vile servant of the Beast – is going to descend on them within mere hours. The fate of life on Earth will depend on the collective karma of the bar when they confront this all-powerful monster.

Through laughter and tears, with puns powerful enough to melt Formica, the most famous bar in all of spacetime is going to rock this night… but will the Earth survive?

No excerpt was available.

Shannon C.’s review of Dust by Elizabeth Bear
Science fiction novel released by Spectra 26 Dec 07

Sybil asked the duckies if any of us had read Elizabeth Bear a few weeks ago, and I decided that I should dig out the one Bear book I had TBR. Apparently, Ms. Bear has won all kinds of awards, and I know she is hyped all over the place. But that doesn’t always mean much.

Unfortunately, Dust didn’t work for me and didn’t live up to the hype. I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but it’s the kind of book that I plowed through just so that I could say I finished.

It’s a bit hard to describe the plot. Our characters are floating around in a generation ship, which is a huge ship sent out to explore and colonize other planets. only the ship has been badly damaged, and it’s been orbiting some stars that are about to go supernova. The story focuses on Rien, who starts out as a servant and comes to embrace her destiny, Perceval, her half-sister and an engineer, and Jacob Dust, part of the ship’s original AI. There are lots of other characters around their periphery, but those are the main three.

What I did like was the vivid description of the setting. I will probably never get to travel through space on a massive, crumbling spaceship, but I definitely got a sense of what that would be like through the writing. The prose is also quite vivid, although too often it drifts into the purple territory.

The characters, unfortunately, don’t stand up well. I got a distinct sense of who they were, but I didn’t ever connect with any of them. Also, there’s this weird incestuous thing that several of them have going on, which was all the more squicky, at least to me, because nobody particularly thought it was a big deal. There was also a lot of intrigue going on, which can sometimes work well, but in this case confused rather than, well, intrigued. And because of that disconnect, and the author’s tendency toward a bit of pretentious literary styling, I just didn’t get the suspense.

I’m not willing to write off Ms. Bear completely. I’m going to try one of her other books first, but this one is probably safe to give a miss.

Grade: C-

Summary:
On a broken ship orbiting a doomed sun, dwellers have grown complacent with their aging metal world. But when a serving girl frees a captive noblewoman, the old order is about to change…

Ariane, Princess of the House of Rule, was known to be fiercely cold-blooded. But severing an angel’s wings on the battlefield-even after she surrendered-proved her completely without honor. Captive, the angel Perceval waits for Ariane not only to finish her off-but to devour her very memories and mind. Surely her gruesome death will cause war between the houses-exactly as Ariane desires. But Ariane’s plan may yet be opposed, for Perceval recognizes the young servant charged with her care at once.

Rien is the lost child: her sister. Soon, they will escape, hoping to stop the impending war and save both their houses. But it is a perilous journey through the crumbling hulk of a dying ship, and they do not pass unnoticed. Because at the hub of their turning world waits Jacob Dust, all that remains of God, following the vapor wisp of the angel. And he knows they will meet very soon.

Read an excerpt here

Gwen’s review of Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross (not a traditional author’s site)
Science fiction adventure hardcover released by Ace 1 Jul 08

The author calls this book, “A space opera and late-period Heinlein tribute…” I think Robert A. Heinlein is my favorite author of all time, with my favorite book of all time being his The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.  This makes me picky when it comes to Heinlein – if someone is going to reference him, or be compared to him, I get the microscope out because that is one VERY high bar to meet, in my opinion.  Tom Clancy has said of Heinlein, “We proceed down the path marked by his ideas. He shows us where the future is.”  So, let’s see how well Stross does, shall we? 

This book alternates between brilliant and muddled.  The plot unravels very slowly and it’s not until the very last 50 or so pages that the reason we’re there becomes clear.  I don’t normally mind complex plotting, but I do like to have a signpost now and again telling me where I’m going.  I feel like Stross’s plotting was unnecessarily abstruse for much of the book and what could have been elegantly simple was often made overly complex.  We’re given indications here and there but left in the dark for much of the book.  I would have liked to have seen more “revelatory” moments earlier in the book.

In addition to the extraordinary plotting, I think the author used overly complex terms – I (me, Gwen, Queen of Vocabulary) had to drag the unabridged dictionary out TWICE while reading it.  Stross used scientific terms for simple things (e.g. at one point “otoreceptors” instead of “ears”), then he used his own terms (“pink goo” for animals and “green goo” for plants) for many things.  Add in we’re talking about a universe populated by humanoid and non-humanoid androids – some autonomous, some not – and you have a very complex, very foreign world to navigate. It’s all enough to make a casual sci-fi reader’s head hurt.

And it doesn’t get much easier the more time spent in Stross’s world.  The plotting and terminology are twisted to the end.

Despite the flaws, the heroine, Freya, is very compelling.  She’s just trying to get by with her “soul chip” in tact.  She’s an “ogress” – a humanoid sex robot in a world of androids built for volume-conscious space travel.  Her creators (mankind) died out, leaving her with no purpose and an unfashionable, obsolete body.  Her bouts of depression are completely understandable and her desire to find a place in the world is very “human” (for lack of a better word).

The secondary characters were less compelling, but that may be because the book is narrated by Freya (you know how I feel about first person in fiction – not a good thing in most cases).  In this tech-heavy book, the first person narration wasn’t horrible, and as it turns out at the very end of the book, we find there’s a reason it’s being told that way.

I understand that Stross has quite a bit of sci-fi published – I’ve probably read him at least once in my travels thru that genre, but it’s been years since I delved deeply.  I’ve read everything Heinlein ever published and, while I can say Stross has moments of brilliance, he doesn’t quite meet the RAH bar.

I can recommend this book fans of Stross, but wouldn’t recommend it to casual sci-fi readers.  At least, not without your trusty unabridged dictionary close at hand.

Grade: C+

Summary:

From the author’s site: Freya Nakamachi-47 has some major existential issues. She’s the perfect concubine, designed to please her human masters; there’s just one problem: she came off the production line a year after the human species went extinct. Whatever else she may be, she’s gloriously obsolete. But the rigid social hierarchy that has risen in the 200 years since the last human died, places beings such as Freya very near the bottom. So when she has a run-in on Venus with a murderous aristocrat, she needs passage off-world in a hurry — and can’t be too fussy about how she pays her way. If Venus was a frying pan, Mercury is the fire — and soon she’s going to be running for her life. Because the job she’s taken as a courier has drawn her to the attention of powerful and dangerous people, and they don’t just want the package she’s carrying. They want her soul …

From amazon.com:  Sometime in the twenty-third century, humanity went extinct-leaving only androids behind. Freya Nakamichi 47 is a femmebot, one of the last of her kind still functioning. With no humans left to pay for the pleasures she provides, she agrees to transport a mysterious package from Mercury to Mars. Unfortunately for Freya, she has just made herself a moving target for some very powerful, very determined humanoids who will stop at nothing to possess the contents of the package.

Read an excerpt. 

Gwen’s review of Warrior (Time Hunters, Book 1) by Angela Knight
Sci-Fi romance released by Berkley 1 Jul 08

Angela Knight writes some of the steamiest, far-out books I’ve ever read. They almost always have uber-alpha heroes and generally have strong heroines. Warrior is no exception. It has an alpha hero in spades, a heroine that rocked, and some sci-fi details that even Shannon will like.

Warrior‘s world is one we are introduced to in Knight’s Jane’s Warlord (novel) and Warfem (novella) – you can get both in Warlord. It’s the first of a new series based on the Temporal Enforcement Agency. Think Jean-Claude Van Damme’s “Timecop” (gawd that man has a fine ass) with better sex scenes. It’s a very interesting world, with the possible exception of some wacky character names that I have no clue how to pronounce (I hate that). It’s got all kinds of very cool sci-fi details that I can really see in my head, but I’m a sci-fi geek.

The heroine, Jessica, is a struggling artist who is saved from futuristic assassins by our hero, Galar (read above about wacky character names). Jessica is my kind of woman. I loved the scenes with her in them – she’s strong, practical, and doesn’t do the TSTL scene. Knight has given us a real gift with her – it seems Jessica will have a large role in future Time Hunter novels – so it will be a pleasure to read more about her.

Galar is a classic tortured alpha male. He was betrayed by a woman before – like, traitor betrayed and he had to kill her betrayed. So he’s naturally reticent to trust. Mind you, he’s not reticent to boink the heroine, just trust her. I enjoyed how Knight brought him out of that mindset and believed in his change of mind. I also liked that he was totally in charge during the action scenes – cool and in control.

I’m a sucker for time travel books. I love to read about people from the past being thrust into the future and vice versa. I think that plot device is interesting – mostly because I’d love to do it myself. You don’t get too much of a flavor of that in this book, but there’s some. It sounds like the next book in the series, Enforcer, will have quite a bit more of that and I can’t wait.

The romance was very sweet in this book and quite believable. I loved the ending. The plot developments and setting for the next book are also very good. This was a terrifically fun read with some good action, good romance, and hot sex. I recommend this book for anyone looking for a good paranormal/sci-fi romance or fans of Angela Knight. Really good summer read.

Grade: A-

Summary:

In the 24th century, anyone can leap through time at will. To police the time jumpers, the Temporal Enforcement Agency has established a precinct in time. Galar Arvid is a genetically altered warlord and agent who’s been sent back to 2008 to save a pretty Atlanta artist from a Xeran time traveler who intends to kill her for profit. What Galar doesn’t count on is the powerful desire Jessica Kelly ignites in him. But could a romance between them work? A three-hundred-year chasm separates them and, even if they dart through time, there’s still a maniacal killer on their tails.

Read an excerpt.

The next book in the series will be Dona’s story, Enforcer. No release date as yet. Here’s its blurb:

Enforcer Dona Astryr is being hunted by an escaped traitor who means to kill her. Yet Temporal Enforcement treason investigator Alex Corydon thinks she, too, is a traitor who is in on the killer’s vicious plot.

As if Dona’s life isn’t complicated enough, she’s fallen hopelessly in love with Chief Enforcer Alerio Dyami, her superior officer on the Outpost. Dyami is just as obsessed with her, but neither can act on the emotion.

Then the traitor moves against them both, stranding them back in time during the American Revolution. With their time travel armor disabled, they must fight their way to British-occupied New York City in order to find a way back to their own time.

Even as they dodge both Patriots and British forces, they’re being stalked by the traitor, who means to murder them both.

Doesn’t that sound wicked cool?

Shannon C.’s review of Grass by Sheri S. Tepper
Science fiction novel released from Spectra 1 Jul 90

There are some books you can breeze through in a matter of hours, close the book afterwards with a satisfied smile and reach for the next. Then there are the books that practically demand to be savored, with the reader moving along at whatever leisurely pace the author sets. As someone with a huge stack of books on my To Be Reviewed list, I don’t often take time to read the books that need savoring. However, as soon as I started reading Grass which was originally published in 1989, I knew I’d stumbled upon a treat, and I further knew I couldn’t just rush through it or I’d miss stuff.

Plague has spread throughout the galaxy that humans have settled, decimating the population as it goes along. The only place where it seems to be immune is the planet Grass, which is, unsurprisingly, entirely covered in various multi-colored types of grass. The officials of Sanctity, the galaxy’s huge major religion, want to know what’s so special about Grass, so they send Rodrigo Yraear and his family to Grass to discover whether the plague has spread there and what can be done about it. Rodrigo’s family is chosen because he and his wife, Marjorie, Lady Westriding, are both accomplished equestrians and they figure that will help them make friends with the somewhat insular Grassians. However, what they find on Grass is so much more than mere plague. The more she is on grass, the more Marjorie Westriding is intrigued, and the more enmeshed she becomes in something that could either save or destroy mankind.

This isn’t a very good synopsis. I haven’t even mentioned the other threads, like the story of Rillibee Chime, an acolyte of Sanctity who came to Grass against his will and gains some prominence because he is an adept climber. There’s also the story of the aristocratic Grassians known as the Bons, who engage in ritual fox hunts that are much, much more sinister than the ones back on Earth, or the Foxen, a truly bizarre alien race concerned with metaphysical matters. Of course, if I started explaining all the plot complexities, that would lead to spoilers, and this book shouldn’t be spoiled.

What really drew me to this book was the writing style. It is lush and evocative, and I got a sense of how grass could be majestic as well as frightening. The prose is also rife with literary allusions–I caught references to Moby Dick and Walt Whitman, and I’m sure there are others–and yet, for the most part, it is readable. The characters are well-drawn. Marjorie, the protagonist, is a complex woman struggling with questions of faith and duty and what her place is in the universe. She is an older woman, and somewhat introspective, and though she does get to star in some riveting action scenes, she isn’t really the kick-ass type. Nonetheless, she is sensible and charismatic, and Tepper portrays this well without Marjorie coming across as a Mary Sue. I also had to admire Marjorie for putting up with her husband, Rigo, who, far from being made a villain of the peace, is simply stubborn, passionate, and utterly misguided about what’s going on around him.

Other characters are equally well-drawn. Rillibee Chime, the reluctant Sanctity acolyte, was a particular favorite, and I equally loved his mentor, the old and wise Brother Mainoa, who gets some of the funniest lines in the book. Even the human villains are drawn with enough detail that it’s possible to feel sympathy for them even when it’s clear they’re in the wrong. And Tepper manages to make the aliens on this world–from the gentle, contemplative Foxen to the fierce, malicious Hippae–unique and, actually, alien.

The plot meanders, as I said, for the first half. However, around the second half of the book, everything picks up speed. This isn’t to say the first half was boring, because it wasn’t and I actually liked it better. By the second half of the book, though, Tepper starts to play around with some of her ideas about faith and sin and salvation, and there were a few moments when she almost lost me. And then there was the romance that develops, which left me with a lot of questions I couldn’t answer on face value. However, the book winds up with a fantastic climax and a very satisfying ending that leaves Marjorie open for new adventures and new possibilities.

Sheri Tepper is one of the major feminist science fiction writers, and as such I’ve been meaning to try one of her books for a while. I’m glad I finally did, and I highly recommend this book, especially to those people who like something a little more literate in their science fiction.

Grade: A-

Summary:

Here is a novel as original as the breathtaking, unspoiled world for which it is named, a place where all appears to be in idyllic balance.

Generations ago, humans fled to the cosmic anomaly known as Grass. Over time, they evolved a new and intricate society. But before humanity arrived another species had already claimed Grass for its own. It, too, had developed a culture…

Now, a deadly plague is spreading across the stars. No world save Grass has been left untouched. Marjorie Westriding Yrarier has been sent from Earth to discover the secret of the planet’s immunity. Amid the alien social structure and strange life-forms of Grass, Lady Westriding unravels the planet’s mysteries to find a truth so shattering it could mean the end of life itself.

No excerpt could be found.

Shannon C.’s review of Hominids: Neanderthal Parallax, Book 1 by Robert J. Sawyer
Science fiction published by Tor 1 May 02

I might never have gotten to this book if it weren’t for reading a relatively negative review of it recently. The reviewer seemed to say, at least to my mind, that Robert J. Sawyer is a bit of a weenie with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. And since I tend to like my science fiction on the weenie–the technical term is “soft”–side rather than the typical non-weenie “hard” SF, I thought that Hominids might actually be a book I could get into without having to read through millions of paragraphs worth of scientific infodumping I didn’t understand. Thankfully, my instincts were correct, and I found myself immediately drawn in by this fascinating story.

The premise here is that Ponter Boddit, a quantum physicist from a parallel universe in which Neanderthals, not our own Cro-Magnon men, evolved and became the dominant race, is doing some intense calculations via his supercomputer, when things go very, very wrong and he ends up going through a gateway into our universe. He baffles our own scientists, and ends up befriending middle-aged geneticist Mary Vaughan, the recent victim of a brutal rape, and alternately learning much about this new place he’s found and teaching his new friends about how things work on his home planet. Meanwhile, his partner, Adikor, is brought forth on charges of murder since Ponter disappeared and there is no way to contact him via the companion implant embedded in his wrist. Adikor could prove what really happened, if he could only get back into his lab, but he’s been prevented from doing so, and must struggle to prove his innocence.

Fish out of water stories are favorites of mine. This was no exception. I loved Ponter, and even though we don’t get much time in his head, I could appreciate his struggles with the fact that he is alone, that no other Neanderthals exist in our universe, and it’s unlikely he’ll get to come home. I also thought that the reactions by the rest of the world to Ponter were pretty much dead on.

I have to say that I really loved that Ponter’s society isn’t perfect either. Poor Adikor, Ponter’s colleague and partner, pretty much has a hopeless time trying to prove his innocence. See, everyone in this society has companion chips, which record what they’re doing every second of the day. People take it for granted, and Sawyer manages to make it seem like a completely normal, non-invasive thing. But the downside is that “innocent until proven guilty” is a concept that the Neanderthals simply don’t have.

Ponter’s story and Adikor’s flow together seamlessly, though it’s actually Adikor’s story that’s more interesting, plot-wise. After a while, it feels as if all Ponter, Mary, and Mary’s colleagues do is talk, and sometimes, yes, the talk does get weighed down with scientific explanations that, while they made sense, sometimes felt a little bit like Sawyer’s attempt to incorporate as much research as he could into the story.

I actually thought the romance between Ponter and Mary was cute, although their HEA at the end isn’t really guaranteed. I really loved watching them grow to respect and trust each other, and I certainly intend to read the sequel to see if that subplot ever gets resolved to my satisfaction.

The story has its flaws. It was originally serialized in Analog Magazine, and essentially just kind of copied and pasted into one novel, so periodically there will be passages that summarize everything that’s just come before. I also could have done with a bit less infodumping, and a bit more depth to some of the characters, but this is very much a readable book, and it won the Hugo Award, which is the most prominent award in science fiction. I can’t disagree with the judgment of the Hugo voters and I definitely intend to keep following Mr. Sawyer on this particular ride.
Grade: B+

Summary:

Hominids examines two unique species of people. We are one of those species; the other is the Neanderthals of a parallel world where they became the dominant intelligence. The Neanderthal civilization has reached heights of culture and science comparable to our own, but with radically different history, society and philosophy.

Ponter Boddit, a Neanderthal physicist, accidentally pierces the barrier between worlds and is transferred to our universe. Almost immediately recognized as a Neanderthal, but only much later as a scientist, he is quarantined and studied, alone and bewildered, a stranger in a strange land. But Ponter is also befriended—by a doctor and a physicist who share his questing intelligence, and especially by Canadian geneticist Mary Vaughan, a woman with whom he develops a special rapport.

Ponter’s partner, Adikor Huld, finds himself with a messy lab, a missing body, suspicious people all around and an explosive murder trial. How can he possibly prove his innocence when he has no idea what actually happened to Ponter?
You can read an excerpt here

One of our faithful readers and a fellow blogger, Shannon C, has also reviewed Grimspace by Ann Aguirre, released by Ace 26 Feb 08.  Shannon also has an author interview, with PRIZES.

Here’s an excerpt of Shannon’s review:

My Thoughts: I’m not terribly easy to please. (Shut up! allow me this moment, OK?). And I’ll read just about anything, although when I got into grown up books, my first love was science fiction and fantasy. I loved the idea of exploring interstellar space, of people with unusual abilities dealing with new lifeforms, and imagining what cultures we’d develop in the far future. In fact, as I’ve mentioned before, if anything, I’m still a romance newbie. So I really like it when my two loves are brought together–a good science fiction romance will make my day.

Ann Aguirre’s Grimspace is a good science fiction romance. I admit to not having read too widely in this particular subgenre yet, but I would have to say that the balance between the romance and the sci-fi elements is pretty much flawless. There are a few science fiction cliches–the resemblance to Firefly is hard to miss, but hey, I like Firefly. (Mmm… Jayne and his guns… Oops, I digress.) I have a few other guesses about Aguirre’s influences, but hey, we’ll be having an interview with her posted up next week, so we’ll see if I’m right then.

So what specifically did I like about the SF elements, since that’s what I was talking about? Well, I liked that Aguirre created several believable alien races that struck me as sufficiently other than human. I liked that she’s obviously thought a lot about how stuff works in her world, and she manages to articulate it without going into clunky technobabble. In fact, I really would love to explore this universe further, and I’m excited to find out that apparently there is a sequel planned, because there are so many possibilities that she could take the story.

As for the romance, it’s wonderful! Both Jax and March, our hero, are very broken individuals. They’re not all clean and perfect by the time the book is finished either, and there was no healing magical sexx0ring for either of them. They’ve still got some working through of stuff to do, but I get the sense that they will manage it.

I loved Jax. She’s my favorite type of…

Go here to read the rest of Shannon’s thoughts.

You can also read Loonigrrl’s TGTBTU review here.

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.