Scan barcode
A review by katyanaish
Alien Separation by Gini Koch
5.0
This one was really great, and largely a return to the more sci-fi action form of the earliest books in the series. It shook off the politics of D.C., which are starting to feel stale, and brought us into a really cool new alien world with fantastic alien characters.
Plus, it was fascinating to see what Algar gets up to.
As an added bonus, because we were in a new environment and outside the Earth rule-set, we got to shake off the ridiculous stress on hierarchy and such that have been such a drag with Reader and Crawford. I'm so tired of it, and it makes both of them seem so petty and petulant. Especially because ffs Jeff unquestionably outranks them now, as the VP.
I'm worried about Chuckie, glad to see Christopher become more of a 3-dimensional person (rather than the Master of Sulky Looks and Snide Remarks), interested to see if the mind reading continues when they're home.
Two things didn't happen, though, that I feel like I've been waiting for, for ages. They aren't spoilers, so I'm going to mention them here.
1 - Kitty's DNA is clearly exceptional, and I cannot believe that Tito hasn't realized that and started testing. Look, Mephistopheles believed they could integrate, way back in the first book. That already makes her the only other being we know of - besides Yates, who everyone is studying like mad because his DNA is exceptional - that could integrate with Mephistopheles. Furthermore, no other human character has mutated as she has. And no other character that we know of has developed random additional abilities when they get super enraged. Like, we've seen her use telekinesis (in Paris) and teleport (more than one time). And does any other A-C get more power as they get enraged? There's clearly something special going on with her mutation, and I have to think that if and when the bad guys realize it, they're going to drop the kill order on Kitty and start trying to grab her as a lab rat. Further, I worry the government will do the same - Kitty seems to be a gold mine for anyone trying to study how to turn a normal human into a supersoldier with none of the drug-addicted downside of Surcenthumaine.
2 - Christopher needs a job. A real job, because he's so wasted right now. And he seems to be particularly gifted at helping hybrids (or mutations like Kitty) learn to deal with their unique abilities. This will become more of a big deal, as our current crop of hybrid kiddos grow up. Why not put him in charge of that?
Oh, and I'm also going to mention the second development in this book that I wasn't thrilled about (the first one being the bit in spoiler tags above)... Ugh.
Plus, it was fascinating to see what Algar gets up to.
As an added bonus, because we were in a new environment and outside the Earth rule-set, we got to shake off the ridiculous stress on hierarchy and such that have been such a drag with Reader and Crawford. I'm so tired of it, and it makes both of them seem so petty and petulant. Especially because ffs Jeff unquestionably outranks them now, as the VP.
I'm worried about Chuckie, glad to see Christopher become more of a 3-dimensional person (rather than the Master of Sulky Looks and Snide Remarks), interested to see if the mind reading continues when they're home.
Spoiler
Less thrilled about another baby entering the mix, because the Jamie already feels too overpowered and deus ex machina ... and I'm happiest when she's left out of the story altogether. Seriously, the best part about this book is that she wasn't in it, 99% of the time.Two things didn't happen, though, that I feel like I've been waiting for, for ages. They aren't spoilers, so I'm going to mention them here.
1 - Kitty's DNA is clearly exceptional, and I cannot believe that Tito hasn't realized that and started testing. Look, Mephistopheles believed they could integrate, way back in the first book. That already makes her the only other being we know of - besides Yates, who everyone is studying like mad because his DNA is exceptional - that could integrate with Mephistopheles. Furthermore, no other human character has mutated as she has. And no other character that we know of has developed random additional abilities when they get super enraged. Like, we've seen her use telekinesis (in Paris) and teleport (more than one time). And does any other A-C get more power as they get enraged? There's clearly something special going on with her mutation, and I have to think that if and when the bad guys realize it, they're going to drop the kill order on Kitty and start trying to grab her as a lab rat. Further, I worry the government will do the same - Kitty seems to be a gold mine for anyone trying to study how to turn a normal human into a supersoldier with none of the drug-addicted downside of Surcenthumaine.
2 - Christopher needs a job. A real job, because he's so wasted right now. And he seems to be particularly gifted at helping hybrids (or mutations like Kitty) learn to deal with their unique abilities. This will become more of a big deal, as our current crop of hybrid kiddos grow up. Why not put him in charge of that?
Oh, and I'm also going to mention the second development in this book that I wasn't thrilled about (the first one being the bit in spoiler tags above)...