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timinbc's review against another edition
2.0
So, we have a romance/SF/military murder mystery.
I have always thought that books like that, with the possible exception of Bujold's Vorkosigan series, are likely to do none of the parts well.
Indeed, I saw one review that compared this to Bujold. That's a bit like saying Coors Light and Trappist Rochefort 10 are alike because they are both beers.
Bonesteel's third book will probably be good. Her second will be mostly good.
Near the end, I was finalizing my opinions when I came across - within less than a full page - three examples of things I hate from inexperienced authors, who probably learned them in workshops.
One: unconscious man wakes up, sees a man, and decides from the man's posture that he is a doctor. OK, Sherlock, right on.
Two: You already know what the just-awakened man's first words are going to be, don't you? Are they "Where am I?" or "What happened?" or "What day is it?" or "Who are you?" or "%$& my head hurts"? No, no, silly. They are, as always, "How long have I been out?"
Three: He sees the doctor's green eyes, and instantly knows she is intelligent. Why can't the TSA learn just to look at people's eyes? Maybe I was sensitized to that because early on we learned that one of the heroes has eyes that are ... what colour are they, class? ... yes, they are grey. 3% of real people have grey eyes, but 75% of novel heroes do. Oddly, in movies, it's blue eyes that are vastly over-represented.
OK, well, then. Trey and Greg are right out of Sex and the City. Trey is the mysterious, older, highly capable man who appears to be mad, bad and dangerous to know. Greg is the Real Nice Guy who is obviously the perfect catch, but he's just So Dumb About Some Things. Jessica's OK. Elena's your Tom Swift character: give her a spoon and two twist ties and she'll build you a raygun in eight minutes. Most of the bad guys are nyah-hah-hah mustache-twirlers with no nuance at all. Danny, well, I can't tell you about him just now.
Sci-fi readers, please adjust your settings, This is Star Trek science, where to go somewhere you grimble the frammis beyond safe settings and hope it works. If something has to be done, a hero will hop into a troop carrier solo, and whiz around like a real pilot. I can only hope it's a really SMALL troop carrier, for a platoon maybe. As another reader noted, the local galaxy seems to be about the size of Chicago. I prefer my SF to come from authors who can tell me why a planet has unusual tides and then make them a key plot point; who can work out the challenges of landing a crippled ship on a strange planet.
There's a great deal of action where characters have very incomplete information. That's a good thing up to a point, and works most of the time, but eventually it all added up to just a bit too much.
And don't get me started about the big scene near the end with Stoya. Quite possible the most predictable scene I have read in 20 years. Two full demerits.
And I'm not at all sure about the scene where they fly low over a city that has been dead for at least ten thousand years, and look in a window to see a table covered with knick-knacks. Perhaps I could note that Pompeii was destroyed by a volcano in 79AD, 1,937 years ago. Picture those ruins. Now imagine that they were five times older than that, or more. Maybe on a planet with no atmosphere, with knick-knacks made of adamantium. Bah.
Summary: Bonesteel has enough promise to make it if she works with an experienced SF editor who will be mean to her. Or else she could give up and join the writers who are getting rich dashing off careless novels every few months; maybe some urban fantasy or a vampire romance.
I have always thought that books like that, with the possible exception of Bujold's Vorkosigan series, are likely to do none of the parts well.
Indeed, I saw one review that compared this to Bujold. That's a bit like saying Coors Light and Trappist Rochefort 10 are alike because they are both beers.
Bonesteel's third book will probably be good. Her second will be mostly good.
Near the end, I was finalizing my opinions when I came across - within less than a full page - three examples of things I hate from inexperienced authors, who probably learned them in workshops.
One: unconscious man wakes up, sees a man, and decides from the man's posture that he is a doctor. OK, Sherlock, right on.
Two: You already know what the just-awakened man's first words are going to be, don't you? Are they "Where am I?" or "What happened?" or "What day is it?" or "Who are you?" or "%$& my head hurts"? No, no, silly. They are, as always, "How long have I been out?"
Three: He sees the doctor's green eyes, and instantly knows she is intelligent. Why can't the TSA learn just to look at people's eyes? Maybe I was sensitized to that because early on we learned that one of the heroes has eyes that are ... what colour are they, class? ... yes, they are grey. 3% of real people have grey eyes, but 75% of novel heroes do. Oddly, in movies, it's blue eyes that are vastly over-represented.
OK, well, then. Trey and Greg are right out of Sex and the City. Trey is the mysterious, older, highly capable man who appears to be mad, bad and dangerous to know. Greg is the Real Nice Guy who is obviously the perfect catch, but he's just So Dumb About Some Things. Jessica's OK. Elena's your Tom Swift character: give her a spoon and two twist ties and she'll build you a raygun in eight minutes. Most of the bad guys are nyah-hah-hah mustache-twirlers with no nuance at all. Danny, well, I can't tell you about him just now.
Sci-fi readers, please adjust your settings, This is Star Trek science, where to go somewhere you grimble the frammis beyond safe settings and hope it works. If something has to be done, a hero will hop into a troop carrier solo, and whiz around like a real pilot. I can only hope it's a really SMALL troop carrier, for a platoon maybe. As another reader noted, the local galaxy seems to be about the size of Chicago. I prefer my SF to come from authors who can tell me why a planet has unusual tides and then make them a key plot point; who can work out the challenges of landing a crippled ship on a strange planet.
There's a great deal of action where characters have very incomplete information. That's a good thing up to a point, and works most of the time, but eventually it all added up to just a bit too much.
And don't get me started about the big scene near the end with Stoya. Quite possible the most predictable scene I have read in 20 years. Two full demerits.
And I'm not at all sure about the scene where they fly low over a city that has been dead for at least ten thousand years, and look in a window to see a table covered with knick-knacks. Perhaps I could note that Pompeii was destroyed by a volcano in 79AD, 1,937 years ago. Picture those ruins. Now imagine that they were five times older than that, or more. Maybe on a planet with no atmosphere, with knick-knacks made of adamantium. Bah.
Summary: Bonesteel has enough promise to make it if she works with an experienced SF editor who will be mean to her. Or else she could give up and join the writers who are getting rich dashing off careless novels every few months; maybe some urban fantasy or a vampire romance.
annexnation's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
embereye's review against another edition
4.0
While I really liked it, this book has some issues. It's a big world-builder setup novel for a series, but while it is FULL of backstory and exposition, it ends up leaving out information that broke me from the story a few times. I loved the vulgar characters, especially the tough women, and the tension between following rules and breaking rules. It felt a little inspired by Star Trek, but with less of an idealistic view of how things would go and no alien contact. The blurb doesn't really convey the story as well as it could, and totally ignores two of the important characters. I enjoyed it with all its rough edges though and am looking forward to the next one.
tessisreading2's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to love this book, and instead I really, really didn't. I love science fiction, I love books about relationships, and I love romance novels - how could I not love it? Well, I really, truly loathe , and I have difficulty swallowing a military organization where the supposedly ultra-competent captain and in general interpersonal relationships seem to be conducted among the crew with about the emotional intensity and maturity that one would expect of your average high school. I mean, very young crewmen, yeah, sure, but . So... I'm just not sure I can continue onward, at least not right now. I just don't buy that most of these characters are mature, rational adults. That said, it was a well-written, competently-plotted novel, so I feel like I can't really give it two stars.
Spoiler
love triangles with an ultra-perfect, universally-beloved heroine at the centerSpoiler
pines after someone in his chain of command for years and finally explodes at her in public by telling her that "he was only ever friends with her because he felt sorry for her" (seriously, that is his insult) because of his unresolved lust and then doesn't remember what he said and just doesn't ask anyone for monthsSpoiler
when we're consistently being told that these are the officers, and that they're really good officers, it is hard to swallownevclue's review against another edition
3.0
Space opera that's light on the world building and politics and much more focused on characters and action. Unfortunately I found the action a little boring and never fully warmed to the characters. Kept thinking I would get more into it, the more I read but it never quite happened for me.
sueodd's review against another edition
This book has been sitting on my kindle forever, so I decided to finally read it. I knew it was romance, but was hoping the sci-fi part would be halfway decent. I noped out after only 2 chapters. As is typical in romance novels - the author describes the characters' appearances in great detail. The only thing that happened in those chapters was sex: Elena is on shore leave and is convinced to go to a bar by her sexually promiscuous friend Jessica. Elena is not enjoying herself, but as she's leaving she strikes up a conversation with Trey, of some other space faction, and ends up going back to his place and sleeping with him. The original encounter at the bar is told through Elena's POV, and the sex scene is told through Trey's POV. That's it. I'm sure there is more sci-fi later on, but when the book starts into detailed sex right out of the gate, I know I'm going to hate it. Elena is quickly set up as "I'm not like other girls". Trey has some mysterious past that makes him dangerous. Tropes abound, and I'm done.
malus23's review against another edition
4.0
This was really a lot of fun. Wasn't sure what to expect going in, but enjoyed it right from the start.
crasscasualty's review against another edition
DNF. Start strong but really lost steam.
kajalhalwa's review against another edition
4.0
A solid sci-fi mystery/caper with a bit of romance. I did find one of the lead MCs a tad Mary Sue-ish but likeable enough to root for. I'm glad to have stumbled upon this series as I definitely need more of the escapism this book gave me.