Grimspace (Sirantha Jax, Book 1)
by Ann Aguirre
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Book Reviews of Grimspace (Sirantha Jax, Book 1)
Book Review: Fraggin' loved it..
Summary: 5 Stars
Grimspace is a great, fast-paced adventure story staring Sirantha Jax. She's fiesty, smart, and has a few issues. After the crash, she finds herself under the protection of Folly's crew, who also, by chance, needs a jumper. She has lost her memory and is on a mission to find out the truth. On the way she meets a great cast of characters including her love interest, March. There's Dina the tough engineer, Loras the savant, Doc the ship's doctor, and March the pilot. I felt like this whole crew was reminiscent of that of Firefly (which is a good thing). I really thought the characters were interesting and different and offered a lot of banter and tension between each other.
This book reads fast and it helps that the first person narrative is provided by Jax. It's not the easiest ride being in her head, but it certainly adds to the experience. She develops a romance with March that I thought was sweet and not too overwhelming. My only problem was I thought that they seemed to fall for each other seriously in the short amount of time that is spent in the book.
I'm still testing the waters with a lot of science fiction, especially space opera because I tend to find it comes off a bit heavy, but for Grimspace, it's the opposite. It's a great adventure with the right amount of everything. There's action on every page, ending in what is obviously an opening for a sequel.
Overall, this is the perfect kind of adventure story for me. There's a great female lead, a good romance that's not too heavy, and tons of action. I recommend this to anyone interested in those things. I've already bought the sequel Wanderlust and can't wait to get to it!
Book Review: Hitch a ride with Jax
Summary: 5 Stars
Grimspace is an excellent bordering on great read, one of those first novels that establishes a solid foundation that hopefully will become a long series of books (three books including this one are available).
Plot - 4.5 stars - Nice flow - no sudden illogical changes of direction - no glaring inconsistency errors (hate those) - fast pace. At the end, you don't get the feeling that the author just ran out of steam or the hurry up I'm at my deadline let's just end it.
Characters - 5 stars - Strong characters that don't include the never does anything wrong characters or the I'll do something really stupid but since I'm the hero it will all work out, at least for me.
Dialog - if it was possible 6 stars - Realistic - I know it's a Science Fiction book but the emotions and dialog between the characters were as real as it gets.
Descriptions - 4 stars - Could have been stronger but it's not impossible to feel your way around this new Universe. It may take some imagination on the part of the reader but its well worth the effort.
Parents I would give the book a PG-13, rating, due to adult but not overly graphic scenes between consenting adults.
I just wish the character on the front cover looked she was described in the book. Sometimes I wonder if the artist is even told what the main character looks like. But that is the responsibility of the cover designer not the author.
Bottom line, by the time I reached page twenty, I ordered Books 2 and 3.
Book Review: Looking forward to the sequel!
Summary: 4 Stars
Meet Jax: one of a very few people with the genetically carried ability to navigate ships through Grimspace, thus permitting rapid interstellar travel. Jax does her job for the Corp, a large, imperialist, corporate/governmental entity. Unfortunately for Jax, leading jumps through Grimspace takes a toll on its practitioners, and eventually ends in burnout, a final, fatal oblivion.
We meet Jax at a moment of crisis: somehow, the ship she was navigating has crashed. Lives were lost. And she can't remember what happened.
This is already an interesting setup, and it all happens before page one.
As a doctor from the Corp forces Jax to relive the disastrous incident over and over, and as she sinks ever deeper into self-recrimination, an unexpected visitor offers her the chance to make a run for it, away from the Corp, and toward a truth she never expected.
Ann Aguirre tells this story with a clipped, almost brutal narrative style that is very compelling. The interaction between pilot and navigator as they move through Grimspace is positively erotic. Everyone has their secrets -- and you won't be able to put the book down, because a new revelation is always around the corner. Oh, and people die. Even good guys.
I'm glad I read Grimspace, and I'm even happier to know that a sequel is coming in August '08: Wanderlust.
Book Review: Great Character, Solid Story
Summary: 4 Stars
I won't lie: I wasn't expecting much when I picked up Grimspace. I thought it would be formulaic SF-romance brain candy. And that's okay. Because I was just looking for something light and fun and escapist.
But I found it was actually more solid fare. Oh, it's not War and Peace - but it's not trying to be. It IS a fun and engaging story with an interesting and "real" protagonist. The pacing is fast, but not dizzying. And the plot had some surprising twists and turns that gave it some originality that this genre so often lacks.
I think one of my favorite things about he book was the protagonist's "voice". The first person, present-tense narrative *could* have been distracting and forced ... but it wasn't. Instead, it set the tone for fast-paced plot and offered greater insight into the main character.
The fast-pace plot does leave the reader with little time to regroup between crises. I found this to be a little disconcerting at first - I was worried that the story might end up being all "non-stop action" with no character development or world building. But Aguirre managed to pull off both. Kudos.
Bottom line: If you like paranormal and/or urban SFF/fantasy with a side of romance - I'm reminded of Linnea Sinclair, Patricia Briggs, Kelly Armstrong - then you will like Grimspace.
I'm looking forward to reading more by Aguirre.
Book Review: Not bad, just wasn't for me
Summary: 3 Stars
The back of the book sounded interesting and I'm a big fan of space opera but this one didn't work for me. It wasn't that it was horribly written, it just wasn't what I was expecting. The main problem I had was that the ratio of romance to action was about 70:30. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the occasional romantic subplot, but not when it feels like the romance overrides the story. It also may have something to do with the somewhat misleading blurb on the back of the book. A little warning would have been nice. It reminded me of Urban Fantasy since alot of the books in that genre have a very strong romantic element. If you enjoy Urban Fantasy and you want to take the leap to more space oriented sci-fi, then I would definitely recommend this for you. If you like your space opera to have more action than anything, you may want to try something else (see Tanya Huff's Valor's Choice - strong female character, plenty of action). There were a few instances where the character kicked butt, but they were rare occasions. I can see why other people may enjoy this, but I didn't enjoy it enough to want to read the rest of the series.