Grimspace (Sirantha Jax, Book 1)
by Ann Aguirre
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Book Reviews of Grimspace (Sirantha Jax, Book 1)
Book Review: Enjoyable Space Opera
Summary: 3 Stars
Grimspace is a fun, enjoyable space opera with some gritty, likeable, but flawed characters.
The protagonist, Sirantha Jax, is a jumper. She has a rare gene that allows her to navigate in Grimspace - which is essentially wormholes that can move spaceships massive distances in one jump. The story starts with her accused, and actually believing, that she somehow intentionally caused a crash that killed her entire crew plus ambassadors and other dignitaries. She is confined to a mental ward wondering what happened, and why, when along comes March who either abducts her or rescues her - at the time she is not sure which. March is part of a underground group trying to break the monopoly on traveling through Grimspace from the Farwan Corporation, which turns out to be a multiuniversal (as opposed to multinational) corporation that essentially operates as the government of a very large segment of habitable space - and is able to do so because it controls all movement in Grimspace. Jax is a key to breaking this monopoly because March's group is trying to replicate the gene, possibly even in non-human sentient species, that allows pilots to navigate through Grimspace. Once Jax escapes, the wild chase is on while the Corp tries to hunt her down and March's group is trying to evade the Corp and carry out their plans to break the Corp's monopoly on Grimspace.
There is a lot to like about this novel. First, Sirantha Jax is a great character, as are March and the rest of his group. They are well thought out characters with both commendable traits but serious flaws as well. Second, it is a fairly fast paced novel with a good plot, lots of action, and interesting interactions between the characters. Third, the author also does a good job of world building, providing the backdrop in which the novel takes place. And finally, the few alien species introduced in the novel are unique and interesting.
A few things I didn't care for in the novel - in one section Sirantha, March and crew enter a sector of space called Hon-Durren's Kingdom, which is outside the control of the Corp. Hon is essentially a pirate and a very nefarious character, but he is also very much a caricature and not unique or different than any other villain I've read in novels such as this or seen in movies. As well as the other characters in the novel are done, this was a little jarring. Secondly, while I didn't mind it all that much, the ending was a real fast bang, slam we're done with many things happening at once. It almost seemed like the author got tired of writing the novel and dumped the ending on the reader. But at the same time, the ending made sense and well done otherwise. And finally, while it does mostly move fast, the action dragged in small parts.
So, overall I liked this novel, but didn't love it. But if I see a sequel or another story by this author, I will definitely read it.
Book Review: Entertaining Space Fantasy
Summary: 4 Stars
Sirantha Jax is the carrier of a rare gene, which gives her the ability to jump ships through grimspace. This talent shortens her life expectancy but allows her to work as a navigator for the Corp, who can then provide Interstellar travel to the paying customer. When the ship she's navigating crashes, Jax is imprisoned and interrogated. But she has no memory of the crash. A man called March breaks into her cell and offers to help her, she accepts his offer, because she really has no place left to go. But the Corp haven't finished with her yet.
I've read in several reviews that Grimspace has been compared to Firefly and Serenity (and I'd add a little Pitch Black), and I think that's a good comparison. If you like those shows I see no reason why you wouldn't like this book. It's full of quotable dialogue, action set pieces and quite a bit of running about.
If I had a problem it was that for me it didn't always quite hang together. The story is well written and engaging, but at certain points I couldn't always follow what was going on. The other problem I had was with it being written in first person point of view (POV). Now I read a lot of Urban Fantasy so it's not the actual first person that's the problem. But there are so many characters coming in and out of scenes, as soon as they leave the POV's sphere of influence you don't get to find out what happened to them, it left me feeling like there were gaps in the story. Plus I don't think I quite got to know Jax as well as I could have.
On the positive side, there was much more that I liked about the story.
It's original. It read much more like Urban Fantasy in space, than space opera. So definitely one I'd recommend for UF fans looking for something a little different.
It's written realistically. When Jax has to fly the ship when she's never flown before, she doesn't suddenly become an ace pilot. She just about manages to steer in a straight line. (Okay, not even that). Things go wrong. These are not people who never make mistakes. They are people who make mistakes and have to deal with consequences and move on.
I like that each member of the crew is an individual. They each have their own history and their own reason for being there. I hope in future books we find out even more about them. There is a romantic subplot between Jax and March, but it is pretty crammed in between the adventuring. What helps suspend your belief about the intensity of their feelings is that as pilot and navigator when they jump their thoughts merge together. There's a level of trust there that allows you to believe they could fall for each other that fast.
So overall I really enjoyed the story. And I think a re-read would probably help iron out my quibbles. I am looking forward to the next book Wanderlust and will be getting it, when it's released in August 2008.
Book Review: Angieville: GRIMSPACE
Summary: 4 Stars
So I hadn't read any actual Sci-Fi in awhile and was looking for something fresh and good. I read a blurb Sharon Shinn wrote for Ann Aguirre's GRIMSPACE and eagerly picked it up the day it came out. Space opera meets urban fantasy, GRIMSPACE is, justifiably, being compared to the most excellent Firefly - The Complete Series and Serenity (Collector's Edition). In other words, it completely rocks.
Sirantha Jax, known simply as Jax, is a rare J-gene carrier, which means she is able to "jump" into a parallel kind of hyperspace known as grimspace and serve as navigator for ships traveling across copious distances in a short time. Each jumper has a pilot and the bond between them is incredibly complex and intense, to put it mildly. Only problem is Jax's pilot is dead, killed in their last flight along with everyone else on board except Jax. Now she's locked up in solitary confinement, deep in the bowels of The Corporation. Under intense psychological "therapy," Jax is forced to relive the moments leading up to the crash over and over again until she either goes mad or confesses to having sabotaged the trip.
Enter March--a renegade pilot who offers Jax a way out. Come with him and his crew and help train a new fleet of jumpers intended to undermine the Corp's stranglehold on travel through their world. Or die for a crime she didn't commit. Jax chooses life, but is determined to have it on her terms. The irascible March desperately needs her abilities but trusts her about as far as he can throw her. Unsurprisingly, all does not run smoothly for March and his crew once they have Jax aboard calling shots, sticking her oar in. Their fast-paced adventures take them to various corners of the galaxy where they encounter a host of strange characters, including one awesome, alien bounty hunter called Velith.
The story is written in first person, present tense, which apparently bugs some readers but which I thought fit the plot and character perfectly. The pages fly by at record speed and it's all so urgent and large and satisfying. Like one of Sunshine's Cinnamon Rolls as Big as Your Head. But, in the end, Jax is the first and best reason to read this book. Full of anger, pain, suspicion, and ego, she's a great big ball of fiery fun. I loved spending time in her world.
Book Review: One of my favorite new series.
Summary: 4 Stars
Originally posted at Wicked Lil Pixie Reviews.
I have wanted to pick up this series for what seems like forever, and I finally did! This is my first introduction to Science Fiction and I can tell you I am hooked on this series and am a "Jax" fan.
Grimspace is the first book of the Sirantha Jax series and not only my first Science Fiction book but also my first time reading Ann Aguirre. I am still reeling from the worlds that Ms Aguirre created and took us through. It is one of the most edgy books I have read. Because I love movies and television, I couldn't help but get the feel of Firefly/Serenity meets Star Wars. Sirantha Jax is born with the rare J-gene that enables her to lead a ship through a shortcut bend in space called Grimspace. After her last mission goes very wrong and she is blamed for it, a group of rogue fighters help her escape so that she can help them with their own agenda.
While I loved Grimspace as a whole, I have to say that it was difficult at times to connect with Sirantha completely. She was completely unapologetic in her actions at times, and her nature was incredibly selfish. At one point she did something that made me so mad I wasn't sure how I could carry on reading. But as she develops unlikely relationships with the secondary characters, we see her really grow and progress - which saved it for me and I was won over. Ms. Aguirre does a good job at helping us understand why she is the way she is and that she is willing to learn from her experiences. I am forgiving of characters frustrating me at times to a certain amount, but if they do not show signs of self-discovery and growth I am done. We definitely watch Sirantha "Jax" stumble a lot, but we also see the beginnings of a great leader.
Another great thing about this book are all the secondary characters. They each have their own distinct personalities and never stray from having their own voices and dialog. There is a lot of sarcastic banter which can sometimes get on my nerves but in this case it was used well, and I found myself giggling sometimes despite the overall darkness of the book.
This book is very fast-paced and it never stalls. From the first page you will forget where you are and what you are doing, and not want to put this down. The minute I finished Grimspace, I had to move on to the second book in the series, Wanderlust.
Book Review: 4.5 stars - Sure to please all science fiction romance fans
Summary: 5 Stars
Plot Summary: Sirantha Jax was a hotshot grimspace navigator, one of the gifted few whose genetic make up allows her to jump a ship through the vast reaches of space. Now she's in prison facing charges after her ship crashed and all aboard died. She's in isolation and being tortured via `dream therapy' when a stranger appears one day and offers her a chance to escape. Sirantha learns that March freed her in order to use her - as both a navigator and a trainer - and their relationship is hot and difficult.
Grimspace came so close to being a perfect science fiction romance in my opinion. I have to give this 4.5 stars for constantly surprising me. Just when I'd get complacent, and think that I have it all worked out, Sirantha would do something crazy. She's more than a little unbalanced, and she doesn't always have heroic impulses, but her flaws only helped me connect with her even more. Sirantha is terribly vulnerable and lonely, but she'll also go down fighting like a wildcat when cornered.
The other fascinating character is March, the stoic soldier who frees her from jail only to take charge of her life. He's the kind of guy who Sirantha loves to hate, and then later on, she hates to love him. Their relationship was bumpier than most, but that just made it all the more authentic for me. Between the two of them they have more than enough angst to satisfy most readers.
The third element that makes Grimspace such a treat is Ann Aguirre's vision for space travel. I understand just enough to want to learn more, and I love stories with space ships and strange new worlds. The ability to use Grimspace resides in a small portion of all living beings, but even then most people burn out after ten runs or less. Sirantha is something of an anomaly given that she's 33 and still able to make jumps. She's special, but she also comes to realize that it's just a genetic fluke, and this is part of how she grows during the story.
Here's the reading order for the Sirantha Jax series:
Grimspace
Wanderlust (Sirantha Jax, Book 2)
Doubleblind (Sirantha Jax, Book 3)
Killbox (September 2010)