Great addition to the Kinsman Universe. Tight little story that was exciting with an interesting world-build behind it. I have said it before, but IloGreat addition to the Kinsman Universe. Tight little story that was exciting with an interesting world-build behind it. I have said it before, but Ilona Andrews writes to my happy place -- smart, badass, grown-ass adult protagonists, a good plot with danger and action, and a nice dose of humor both bright and dark.
I am really enjoying the versatility of this author. She written historical romantic fiction, mystery, fantasy and now space opera. All of them are veI am really enjoying the versatility of this author. She written historical romantic fiction, mystery, fantasy and now space opera. All of them are very different but the ideas and story have all been interesting and inventive.
In this one, we have a main character Rose who was kidnapped from earth by a race of aliens and kept prisoner for months on their ship being experimented on.
As the book begins and we meet Rose she is being broken out of prison by an AI name Sazo who ran the ship. We learn that the AI befriended Rose with just this intention and so much more. He has a deep plan that he is following that we (and Rose) learn in pieces as the story goes along.
Part of the plan is to get Rose amongst a race of people she can be comfortable with. At this point Rose is in a galaxy far, far, away -- nowhere near earth with a bunch of different alien races who have formed a governing alliance somewhat to keep them all in check. Sazo engineers it so the hostile race who captured her are maneuvered into the planetary boundary of the Grih people. While they are part of a coalition of sorts with the hostile race that captured Rose, this sort of incursion breaks some rule.
From here Rose meets a new set of aliens, The Grih who simultaneously rescue her and find her a being of immense curiosity and excitement (and she and the hottie Captain Dav slowly fall in love over the course of the book). She is a high functioning, high reasoning being who looks kind of like them and can speak their language. Her presence (and the machinations of Sazo) set off a series of events that will change a lot of things for the planets and people on this side of the galaxy.
There is a lot that needs to be hand-waved here. All the different alien races are humanoid. There is nothing really alien about their appearance to Rose with the exception of a few smallish things. But they have distinctly recognizable males and females. Rose and Dav can get it on, etc. etc.
Rose also, conveniently, has a facility for languages and miraculously learns about three alien languages in the course of three months. And things like time, spatial measurement etc. all use our familiar terminology.
So yeah, some disbelieve needs to be majorly suspended.
But the underlying story is very well done and interesting enough to keep my attention riveted. I was very curious to see what would happen next. There are a lot of balls in the air the most intriguing of which is what is Sazo's plan. And when we learn it, how will he be able to pull it off? Also the reactions to Rose by the different factions, Rose's own burgeoning confidence in her self, the Grih's reaction to music (i couldn't help but wish Rose had a MP3 player or iphone so she could let them listen to Whitney or Maria Callas or Luther Vandross. They probably would have gone catatonic in rapture...LOL), and most importantly the relationship with Rose and Sazo and the AI not only becomes free but begins to become more and more self aware. Sazo was a great character.
Listened on audio and the narrator was very good. ...more
I dunno.... this book is a Sci-Fi romance. That has a Big Plot outside of the romance.
The romance was numbingly by-the-numbers.
The Big Plot had potentI dunno.... this book is a Sci-Fi romance. That has a Big Plot outside of the romance.
The romance was numbingly by-the-numbers.
The Big Plot had potential but felt bogged down by the world building not bnouyed up by it. Also, this was a plot that was screaming for a HELL'S YEAH! moment. That never happened. The climactic moment in the end was basically a contract negotiation. Sigh.
Also, if your world is supposed to be an intergalactic place a couple-three thousand years into the future including an Earth that was abandoned and then re-populated, maybe don't have your characters speak in 90s idiomatic language straight out of a Friends episode?
Really good alternate fiction. Dewey actually does defeat Truman. A meteorite strikes and decimates DC and ushers in the space exploration imperative.Really good alternate fiction. Dewey actually does defeat Truman. A meteorite strikes and decimates DC and ushers in the space exploration imperative. Women become astronauts, too (although they still can't escape the rampant sexism). Also acknowledges and gives a nod to the contributions of POC and the racial disparities (Thank you, Hidden Figures!)
Enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next one....more
I initially had this shelved as Science Fiction, but it is really, truly a romance novel. It is almost a bookend Hmm.... what to say...what to say....
I initially had this shelved as Science Fiction, but it is really, truly a romance novel. It is almost a bookend to Shards of Honor in that book took place on what we now know as the planet Sergyar and where Cordelia finds romance with Aral during her discovery and exploration of the planet. This one is similar in that it takes place some 40-ish years later, again on Sergyar which is now an inhabited planet and where Cordelia again finds love, this time with Arals long time protege, Oliver Jole.
I think I would have really loved this book a lot if I hadn't spent the last twenty years of my own following this family through reads, re-reads and even more re-reads. On its own merits it is a lovely romance novel featuring an older woman, a slightly younger man, their long shared history and how they plan to embark on a second phased of their own lives. This is not a cracked-out-bonkers Miles adventure story nor is it even the story of the younger fierce warrior chick Cordelia we were first introduced to. Although a lot of that bonkers and fierce history is alluded to over and over again. No this is a quieter, softer story.
And it is a bit of a retcon, imo. Which is I can't love it as much I should. My history is working against me. I won't go into details but I kinda hate the the new peek inside of Aral and Cordelia we get in the aftermath of his death. It makes me feel like I didn't know them after all. Yeah, it is very plausible. But there are quite a few revelations about Aral and his thoughts and wishes that are being said about him after his death which I think I would have loved to learn while he was still alive. So it almost feels like his character is being reformatted in a way. So even as I read and enjoyed Cordelia's second chance at love and life -- even her ability to reclaim some areas of her life that she hadn't been able to realize fully because of how much Barrayer demanded from her, I couldn't help but feel a bit of a loss of Aral's agency. It is too bad because what we do learn is fascinating and interesting enough to have gotten to learn it earlier.
I will say I liked Jole. He was always a background hovering character in the earlier books. But he came to life a lot in this one and I liked him as his own full fleshed character....more
2021- re-read in audio. Took me more than a minute to get into the audio. Renee Raudmann pairs well with Ilona Andrews, but there's something extra-tw2021- re-read in audio. Took me more than a minute to get into the audio. Renee Raudmann pairs well with Ilona Andrews, but there's something extra-twangy here that is a little off-putting. Even so, the story is still good one to re-visit after 8 years.
--- I am glad they released this as a book. I saw that it was being offered free on their site to read as a serial. But That is too much effort for me. LOL.
I really liked this. Kind of reminded me in a small way of Tanya Huff's Summon the Keeper series.
It is a nice blend of Science Fiction and Urban Fantasy. The romance angle is downplayed to the extent that it is a)really secondary to the point that it is barely begun and b)not even resolved by the end.
The ending is practically begging for a follow-up because it feels like there is more story....more
So I came across these books in a box in our barn. I started idly leafing through it and became surprisingly engrossed. Surprising because even thoughSo I came across these books in a box in our barn. I started idly leafing through it and became surprisingly engrossed. Surprising because even though I read a lot across genres, this is pretty much outside my wheelhouse. It is described as 'Men's Fiction/Action Adventure'.
This is book 13 of apparently a 90+ book series that follows a small group of 6 people as they traverse the US 100 years after a nuclear holocaust going from adventure to adventure. I couldn't find any books earlier than this in the box, but that doesn't matter, I managed to get the gist pretty good just from reading this one. The world is a very different place. The aftermath of the nuclear war has caused mutations in people as well as climate and geographical changes to the US. This series takes place in a true post-apocalyptic dystopia. There doesn't seem to be anywhere where people are completely safe.
One member of the group was actually alive during the 1960s and was cryogenically frozen only to be awakened during the present time. Another member was part born in the 1800s and was part of a time travel experiment. These two exist to give present day context and pepper the rest of the group with cultural references they don't understand but the reader will. In this one the group find themselves in New York. No skyscrapers are left, Grand Central is a husk and they can only tell where the park used to be because there is no rubble there just mud.
I found the writing to be spare yet still oddly descriptive and very much in keeping with the episodic nature of the stories. The action was quick and the storytelling precise. I finished it quickly and found myself pulling out the next one....more
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