This is basically a repeat of the first book with different characters, slightly different psychic abilities, and the fact that the couple actually diThis is basically a repeat of the first book with different characters, slightly different psychic abilities, and the fact that the couple actually discussed about some of their problems. He actually wanted her to choose him unprompted—or uncoerced. Yes, the casual misogyny or he is always right attitude is still there but not quite as bad. There also was a killer, again, and some advancing of the bigger Psy plot but not enough for my taste.
I’m rounding up the rating because while it wasn’t as good as the first in the seriesThis review can also be found on Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell-blog.
I’m rounding up the rating because while it wasn’t as good as the first in the series I really enjoyed reading the book.
As Ia advances through the ranks of the Terran Space Force she continues to walk that very thin line between lie and deceit in the best interest of all humanity. It takes her to the Navy Academy and pilot school… and I lost count on how many things I’m misrepresenting in my review. Military isn’t my forte.
The world of future is still there, only expanded and further explored. The ever changing character gallery introduces new faces and names all the time while rotating a couple of familiar names to focus for a while. There were some I’d missed but didn’t see, and there were some I hadn’t missed but glad to see all the same.
What’s different to the first book is the shifting focus onto Ia’s character growth. Johnson doesn’t switch genres in the middle of a series but she does spend some time on illuminating through the interactions with her family who Ia was before she became hell bent on saving the galaxy, and who she could be if she wasn’t so stubborn to not allow anything for herself.
And that’s where this book’s greatest weakness lies.
Ia does find her Achille’s heel, which was something I’d been waiting to see from the very start. Just as Johnson, Ia doesn’t quite know what to do with it, but she tries. And it would have worked—adequately—hadn’t that revelation discussion been botched. In my opinion Johnson fails to hit that precious balance between avoiding repetition and doing justice to the character—Ia’s blind spot in this case. What I read was rushed and unsatisfactory instead of a poignant scene between two people facing and accepting a personal tragedy. I am glad, though, that the heel wasn’t completely forgotten and I’m hoping that as the series progresses the character gets a chance to pervade Ia’s life just as Bennie has.
I like Bennie and hope to see much of her in the future. August can’t come soon enough....more
Usually, I prefer more character driven stories. Although this book is told from Ia’s point of view and partly narrated in her voice—there are short nUsually, I prefer more character driven stories. Although this book is told from Ia’s point of view and partly narrated in her voice—there are short notes from the character at the beginning of each chapter—it’s far from an emotional and introspective journey. Instead, Johnson concentrates on the world building and plotting Ia’s military career from basic training to her first officer’s post.
I don’t read nearly as much scifi as I’d like to, but I do read fantasy and that’s what drew me in here. This is the first book of a much bigger series, an introduction to a future world and the world beyond that place and time. I remember reading Game of Thrones and complaining that it was just an eight hundred page prologue to an even bigger story. Here, the book is four hundred pages and there is a semblance of a personal story there, but only the first step of it.
Because of her precognitive abilities and sense of responsibility, Ia has pushed aside all her personal feelings and aspirations. This doesn’t only show on the back cover blurb but in the book itself. Ia is fully concentrated on optimising her future and the path she must take to save her home galaxy. She occasionally refers to her family and friends, but mostly she’s pushing herself from one fight to another and manipulating the events to her advantage. She doesn’t always succeed perfectly, but she’s also yet to fail miserably.
As the story continues, I wish I’ll learn more about the person Ia hoped to become before that nightmare she saw at fifteen. I wish she’ll stumble and fall, badly, only to pick herself up again and maybe find a new path, a better path for herself and for the galaxy. I wish to see her grow as a character and I wish there’ll be more time for the people around her. I wish she’ll learn that she’s not better off being alone in this.
But I think I’ll be content combing through the battle heavy pages for the subtle hints of her character building as long as I learn more about this rich world Johnson has created.
I never thought I’d like a military books, but I guess there’s a right time for everything. It certainly was the right time for me to read this book. Thanks for Aurian to recommending and gifting this book to me....more
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