Review of Killbox

	Killbox by Ann Aguirre 368pp (Paperback) My Rating: 8/10 Amazon Rating: 5/5 LibraryThing Rating: 4.33/5 Goodreads Rating: 4.72/5

Killbox, the fourth book in the Sirantha Jax series by Ann Aguirre, was released on August 31. The other books in this space opera series are Grimspace, Wanderlust and Doubleblind, in that order. There will be six books total in the series with Aftermath scheduled for September 2011 and Endgame for September 2012.

Please note that since this is the fourth book in a series, there will be spoilers for the first three books. This is a series that I would definitely recommend reading in order beginning with Grimspace (review).

After leaving Ithiss-Tor, Jax sends a message that she is quitting her job as a diplomat the first chance she gets. It's not that she doesn't want to do her part to save humanity (and any other species that refrains from hostile actions such as devouring the flesh of anyone it feels like eating) - but diplomacy has never really been her strength. Instead, she takes an apprentice jumper and begins teaching him how to traverse grimspace.

Daily life is not as safe as it used to be, and for some peculiar reason the Morgut appear to be targeting scientists. As more and more people are attacked by the deadly Morgut, Jax and her friends realize that there are serious consequences to destroying the corrupt Farwan, which at least had a large number of patrols dedicated to aiding those in trouble. The Conglomerate comes to the same realization and offers March a position as commander of a new armada - with free reign to be "creative" due to limited funding and the urgency of defending the universe. Although it is a lot of responsibility, it's also impossible to refuse, and the crew begins gathering a force of mercenaries of ill repute as the last hope against the Morgut threat.

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After the political diplomacy in Doubleblind, this book packs in a lot more action. In spite of (or perhaps because of) this, it actually took a little longer for me to get emotionally involved in Killbox than the previous three novels, although I was very much emotionally involved by the time it ended. The beginning is not at all slow, quite the opposite - I was just being impatient about wanting to see certain threads from the last book picked up. The previous installment dealt a lot with Vel, my favorite character in the series, and I was hoping to see some of the parts about him from it followed up on some more. Although it took a little while to get to them, there were definitely some great scenes with Vel that I'm now hoping to see continued in the next novel.

There's lots of danger, excitement and battles, and Aguirre continues to maintain an excellent balance between moving the plot forward and developing the characters. At first it did seem as though there was more adventure and less of the character moments, but there were some - they were just mainly with March. Ever since the second book, I've much preferred reading about the friendships Jax has developed to the romance, especially her relationships with the alien Vel and the ship's mechanic Dina, an exiled princess. By the time it reached the big cliffhanger ending, not only had there been some fantastic conversations with both Vel and Dina, but it had definitely also taken me on an emotionally harrowing journey. The last 50 - 60 pages made me cry not just once but twice (which rarely happens at all).

Another major highlight is the return of some characters we haven't seen since the very first book, but the most rewarding part is the development of Jax herself. She continues to grow as a character and has changed so much since the first book. Even better, just how much she has grown is shown through her actions - we're not just told she's not the same Jax but we're shown time and again that she has come a long way since the first book. It did get on my nerves a little that we were told she wasn't the same so many times instead of just letting her deeds speak for themselves, but considering the story is told from Jax's perspective, I don't think it's unrealistic. Someone who has undergone as much of a metamorphosis as she has over the course of this series is probably going to be continually amazed by the contrast between how she reacts now and how she would have reacted just a short time ago.

The writing itself has also improved since the first novel. While is still mainly straightforward and sometimes fractured prose as it's told from Jax's perspective in present tense, there were a couple of phrases and observations that struck me as lovely. The turmoil at the end especially was very moving.

It was somewhat annoying that March and Jax were apart yet again in this book. Although the reason behind it was logical, the fact that it keeps happening over and over again is making it feel contrived to me. It's starting to seem like every book needs to have a new dilemma for keeping some tension in the romance so it doesn't get stale before the final book.

Overall, this is a strong addition to the Sirantha Jax series. It has plenty of action and adventure, the characters continue to grow, and the writing has matured since the first book. One final word of advice: do have a box of tissues handy and be prepared to curse the book for ending where it does.

My Rating: 8/10

Where I got my reading copy: Review copy from the publisher.

Read Chapter One

Other Reviews:

• Dreams and Speculation
• Lurv a la Mode

Reviews of other books in this series:

• Grimspace
  
• Wanderlust
• Doubleblind

Review of The Praxis

	The Praxis by Walter Jon Williams 448pp (Paperback) My Rating: 7.5/10 Amazon Rating: 4/5 LibraryThing Rating: 3.65/5 Goodreads Rating: 3.77/5

The Praxis is the first book in the (completed!) Dread Empire's Fall trilogy by Walter Jon Williams. The second book in this space opera/military science fiction series is The Sundering, and the final book is Conventions of War.

The immortal Shaa have conquered the galaxy with the singular goal of bringing all races together to follow the truth of the Praxis. Despite their best efforts, each Shaa has found they have been losing their recent memories and have been unable to enjoy the results of their dominion. One by one, the Shaa have been dying and now only one of them remains, Anticipation of Victory, who was named when the plans for Shaa conquest were being formed. The final Shaa has decided he has done all he can to ensure nothing ever changes after his death and that it is time to begin preparations for his departure from the universe.

Unfortunately for Lieutenant Gareth Martinez, his fleet commander is undergoing the great honor of representing his family as a sacrifice on the day Anticipation of Victory dies - which Martinez views as suicidal to his own career. However, Martinez becomes famous when he sees a runaway yacht during a race and figures out a possible way to stop it. His idea is successfully executed by the cadet Caroline Sula. Although it is too late for the pilot by the time the rescue is carried out, Sula is awarded for her bravery and effectiveness at capturing the vessel. Two such competent people may be just what the Empire needs with the impending end of the Shaa reign.

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Writing a description for this book was very difficult since it is the beginning of a trilogy and I feel like the pivotal, important moment didn't happen until close to the end. So even though this is mentioned on the back cover of the book, I consider it a spoiler and am leaving it out of the plot summary. In spite of this not occurring for quite a while and feeling like somewhat of a setup for the rest of the books in the series, I found this novel mostly held my interest pretty well - there was some action, but it was mostly politics and character development, which I prefer to read about anyway.

There are two main point of view characters, Gareth Martinez and Lady Caroline Sula, and I really liked both of them even if (or perhaps because) they were rather flawed. Both of them were intelligent, competent people, but both of them also had a drive to succeed that could make them seem ruthless (Sula more so than Martinez but they were both trying to climb the hierarchy any way they could). Yet I found both very sympathetic, particularly as they both were striving to be successful with careers in a military that seemed rather pointless:

"Any luck in finding a good posting?" Sula asked.

"No. Not yet."

"Does it have to be a staff job?"

Martinez shook his head. "I don't mind ship duty. But I'd like it to be a step up, not a step back or sideways." He put his arms on the table and sighed. "And it would be nice to be in a position to actually accomplish something. I have this ridiculous compulsion not to be totally useless. But that's difficult in the service, isn't it? Some days it's a struggle to find a point in it all. Do you know what I mean?"

Sula looked at him and nodded. "We're in a military that hasn't fought a real war in thirty-four hundred years, and most of its engagements before and since consisted of raining bombs on helpless populations. Yes, I know what you mean." She cocked her head, silver-gilt hair brushing her shoulders. "Occasionally we pull off a nice rescue," she said. "Though we hardly need cruisers or battleships for that, do we? But all those big ships make terrific platforms for enhancing the grandeur and self-importance of senior captains and fleet commanders, and grandeur and self-importance are what holds the empire together." [pp. 122 - 123]

Have to love Sula's boldness. She's a cadet and the last member of the Sula family, who were once important and very rich until they were executed for attempted embezzlement. Now she's lost a lot and can only have a military job, although she is determined to rank first in the lieutenant exams and make a name for herself that way. But there's a lot more to Sula than meets the eye, as is revealed through the bits and pieces of her back story that are included throughout the novel. Although it's obvious from close to the beginning how it ended, it's still a rather interesting story

Martinez is from a wealthy family, but they are not the highest people in the hierarchy and some look down on him for his uncultured accent. He is brighter and more efficient than most of those he works with and one has to feel sorry for him, especially when he ends up working for a man whose main concern is having the best football team in the fleet.

Much of the plot is concerned with politics, such as how both Martinez and Sula attempt to rise within the hierarchy. There is a subplot of a marriage arranged solely for the purpose of bettering the Martinez family, and there are quite a few dinners and parties and lots of emphasis on social roles.

Other than the characters and politics, I also really enjoyed the society developed and maintained by the Shaa. The Shaa are fanatical about upholding The Praxis and using it to wage a universal crusade to convert the masses. Once they have a people following their laws, they have no qualms whatsoever about making the punishment far worse than the crime and harming those who are innocent to ensure that anyone else will think twice before committing the same mistake. They do not allow AIs, genetic engineering or immortality and enforce a rigid social structure. Where the Shaa and the tenets of The Praxis came from remain a mystery and hopefully there will be more about this in the sequels.

Any complaints about this book are fairly minor. There were some slow parts and it did take me a little while to get into it after the prologue and the first chapter (which were great). The parts about The Praxis fascinated me, but there were few enough of those that it wasn't until I started to get to know Martinez and Sula that I really started to warm up to it. Some parts were fairly predictable, but they were so obvious that must have been intentional and the journey was interesting enough that it didn't really matter anyway. Also, it felt like it did take most of the book to get to what I assume is the main conflict in the trilogy, but the rest of the story entertained me enough that it didn't really matter a whole lot to me.

The Praxis is a promising start to the Dread Empire's Fall trilogy. The characters, political situations and society were all fascinating enough to make up for the few slow parts, and I look forward to reading the second book.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Where I got my reading copy: I bought it.

Review of World's End

	World's End by Joan D. Vinge 284pp (Paperback) My Rating: 8/10 Amazon Rating: 4/5 LibraryThing Rating: 3.6/5 Goodreads Rating: 3.51/5

World's End is an indirect sequel to The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge. It explains what happened to the police officer BZ Gundhalinu after the end of The Snow Queen and ties into the events of its direct sequel The Summer Queen. There is also a fourth book set in this world, Tangled Up in Blue, which is a prequel about BZ Gundhalinu. The latter two published books are both still in print, but both The Snow Queen and World's End are currently out of print, although I thought they were well worth tracking down.

This review will contain spoilers for The Snow Queen since it does take place after the end of that novel. Only the plot description has spoilers so if you are still curious about the book, just skip to the text right after the horizontal line.

World's End picks up after BZ has left Tiamat and is on a planet called Four. As a failed suicide who still bears the scars for all to see, he is an outcast. He is also depressed about leaving Moon on Tiamat, but he is even more full of despair after his two brothers pay him a visit. At first they just tell him they are going to World's End to make their fortune, but when BZ is incredulous that they left the family estate behind to make the "Big Mistake" of venturing into the dangerous World's End, they reveal that they made a few big mistakes already and lost everything. World's End presents the possibility of great wealth, but many who go there never return - and one year later, BZ's brothers are still out there somewhere. In spite of the fact that they foolishly got themselves into this mess, BZ feels that it is his duty to go find them and makes his own journey to the perilous World's End.

Even just getting to World's End is not easy; first BZ must deal with piles of paperwork, then a thug accompanying the man who gives him a way in. Along the way, he meets a sibyl named Hahn who is unable to go herself but would like someone to find her daughter, another sibyl who ran away to World's End. As someone looking for missing family, BZ is sympathetic and he agrees to look for the young woman while he is there. However, he discovers more than he could have imagined when he makes a major discovery that will change the universe.

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While The Snow Queen was an epic story with a wide cast of characters, World's End is much shorter and focuses on just BZ. Although there is a very important occurrence that takes place in this book, it is largely character-centric as BZ undergoes not only a literal journey but a personal one. Not a lot seemed to happen for the first half, but I barely noticed since the writing and the main protagonist were both riveting.

Parts of the book are told from the third person perspective of BZ, but it is mainly told from the first person through his journals. He was one of my favorite characters from The Snow Queen as he had a great many traits that made him real and easy to relate to - he was loyal and strongly believed in duty but he was also rather arrogant and set in the way of thinking ingrained into him by his own culture. I really enjoyed learning more about his past and motivations. There were some humorous parts, such as when BZ did not make a great first impression with the man in charge at the Office of Permits by misinterpreting his name as "Moron." A lot of it was also angsty and introspective, but there's just something about the way Joan D. Vinge writes BZ that is so poignant. She tells us so much about BZ, his family and his society just when he is reminiscing about his departure from his brothers and whey he had to search for them:

SB caught HK's arm and pulled him toward the open door, glancing back once, to spit at me, "Gedda." And after that I didn't hear from them again. I told myself good riddance.

But instead of forgetting about them, I've followed them into World's End. I can't believe I've done this...the thought of just spending a night in this squalid town is enough to make any reasonable person take the next shuttle back to civilization. And it's not as if they went off for a holiday week and forgot the time. They disappeared, into an uncharted wilderness! They were totally unprepared for what they did - neither one of them ever attempted anything more dangerous before this than spending all day in the baths. If the wasteland didn't kill them, the human animals who inhabit it probably did, and picked their bones for good measure. Am I really going out there to let the same thing happen to me--?

When I was a boy, my nurse told me stories of the Child Stealer, who stole highborn babies and replaced them with cretinous Unclassifieds. For years I was sure that's what must have happened to HK and SB... They chose their fate and if World's End swallowed them without a trace, they got what they deserved. They left no one and nothing behind, except me...left me with nothing but memories.

But since they're gone, I'm head of the family now...a title as hollow as it is unexpected. And they are still my brothers. That makes it my duty to search for them; my responsibility to all our ancestors -- who will be my ancestors forever, whatever strangers violate my family's honor and claim my blood as their own. But still, if it weren't for Father, for what I owe to him...

If it weren't for me, none of this would have happened. (pp. 11 - 12)

In spite of the fact that his brothers despise him and have no one to blame for their problems but themselves, BZ has to try to help them. It's his duty as a Gundhalinu, his father's son but ultimately as someone who can't help but feel he could have prevented it all.

The outcome of BZ's voyage to World's End, his discovery and the possibilities resulting from this are also very interesting, but I'll say no more to avoid spoiling the end.

I would highly recommend this for fans of The Snow Queen who are interested in reading more about BZ. Joan D. Vinge is becoming a must-read author, and I'm really looking forward to finding out what happens next in The Summer Queen.

My Rating: 8/10

Where I got my reading copy: I bought it.

Review of Miles Errant

	Miles Errant by Lois McMaster Bujold 752pp (Trade Paperback) My Rating: 8/10 Amazon Rating: 4.5/5 LibraryThing Rating: 4.38/5 Goodreads Rating: 4.3/5

Miles Errant is an omnibus containing the novella "The Borders of Infinity" and the novels Brothers in Arms and Mirror Dance in the Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold. Mirror Dance won the Hugo Award in 1995.

There are currently 13 novels in this space opera series (including the ones that are loosely related since one takes place 200 years before, two are prequels about Miles's parents, and one does not feature Miles but a member of his crew instead) and 4 novellas with a new novel (Cryoburn) scheduled to come out later this year. Miles Errant is fourth in the omnibus edition order (after Cordelia's Honor, Young Miles and Miles, Mystery and Mayhem). It is followed by one novel not in an omnibus (Memory) and two more collections, Miles in Love and Miles, Mutants and Microbes.

Even though the books were not all published in chronological order, I'd recommend starting with either the first prequel about Miles's mother (Shards of Honor which can also be found in the omnibus Cordelia's Honor) or the first book about Miles (The Warrior's Apprentice which can be found in the omnibus Young Miles). The two books in Cordelia's Honor are not really necessary to understanding the rest of the series, but I'm glad I started with them because I really enjoyed them. However, I would recommend those who are more interested in space opera adventure begin with The Warrior's Apprentice since Shards of Honor is largely a love story.

The novella "Borders of Infinity" starts off this collection. Miles is dropped off in the Cetagandan prison camp Dagoola IV, where he is immediately beaten and stripped of his few belongings (including the clothes on his back) by some of the other prisoners. Soon he is approached by another naked man who would like to know if Miles is the One - or rather, the other One since the scripture he's been carrying around says there are two Ones. Miles thinks perhaps he can use this religious fanaticism to his advantage in his mission - rescuing the heroic Colonel Tremont from the prison camp.

Brothers in Arms picks up after the events of "The Borders of Infinity." In this novel Miles and his fleet end up on Earth shortly after the end of the previous story. While waiting for the funds necessary to repair one of the ships, Miles works at the Barrayaran embassy - to the great dismay of Captain Galeni, who has to deal with him and his Dendarii Fleet. However, after his requests for funding are ignored, Miles begins to wonder if there is some sort of conspiracy at play - and inadvertently discovers a plot against his home planet involving the clone he never knew he had.

Mirror Dance takes place about two years after the previous story but is very closely related since it is mostly about Mark, Miles's clone. Mark pretends to be Admiral Naismith in order to free the clone children on Jackson's Whole, who will eventually be replacement bodies for their progenitors. While he largely succeeds due to the intervention of Miles, who figured out what happened, the plan goes awry and has some rather dire consequences. Afterward, Mark ends up on Barrayar where he meets his family and must come to terms with who he is.

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The series focuses of course on the title character, Miles Vorkosigan, a dwarf with very brittle bones due to a toxin his mother was exposed to before he was born. Growing up in a very military society, Miles has had to overcome the obstacles of both prejudice and his own physical limitations. Fortunately for Miles, what he lacks is more than made up for by the fact that he is brilliant. He's hyper, has issues with obeying authority and is overall a very vibrant character - and is very entertaining to read about. It's a fun series to read, and I do think there is some great character development and insight, particularly in Mirror Dance (which was not only my favorite in this collection but also my favorite in the series so far).

The three stories in this particular collection all tied together very well. "The Borders of Infinity" was a very light, fast-paced and fun story - at least until close to the end where it's not as light. The way it ended was great, though, and it's very rare that I really think a story has a strong conclusion. Brothers in Arms followed a similar pattern of going from light and fun to less so, but it didn't take long for Mirror Dance to be on the darker side. Even when it's not going well for the characters, the narrative contains enough humor to keep it from feeling as grim as it could, though.

For instance, right at the beginning of "The Borders of Infinity," Miles is stripped naked and pretty thoroughly beaten by some other prisoners. Instead of focusing too much on the depressing circumstances, it is immediately followed up with Miles being approached by a fellow naked prisoner offering him a drink of water:

The man squatted in studied politeness until Miles finished drinking, then leaned forward on his knuckles in restrained urgency. "Are you the One?"

Miles blinked. "Am I the what?"

"The One. The other One, I should say. The scripture says there has to be two."

"Uh," Miles hesitated cautiously. "What exactly does the scripture say?"

The man's right hand wrapped over his knobby left wrist, around which was tied a rag screwed into a sort of rope. He closed his eyes; his lips moved a moment, and then he recited aloud, "...but the pilgrims went up that hill with ease, because they had these two men to lead them by the arms; also they had left their garments behind them, for though they went in with them, they came out without them." His eyes popped back open to stare hopefully at Miles.

So, now we begin to see why this guy seems to be all by himself.... "Are you, perchance, the other One?" Miles shot at a venture.

The man nodded shyly.

"I see. Um..." How was it that he always attracted the nut cases? He licked the last drops of water from his lips. The fellow might have some screws loose, but he was certainly an improvement over the last lot, always presuming he didn't have another personality or two of the homicidal loonie variety tucked away in his head. No, in that case, he'd be introducing himself as the Chosen Two, and not be looking for outside assistance. (pp. 5 - 6)

Even though Mirror Dance is more about Mark than Miles, it is still a very good story and also contains some good scenes with Miles. In spite of being his clone and sharing many of his traits, Mark is very different from Miles. This is definitely his book and he undergoes a lot of growth in it. It goes very well as a follow-up to Brothers in Arms, in which we first meet Mark but only see him from Miles's perspective.

While I wouldn't recommend starting with Miles Errant, I'd definitely recommend it to fans of the series who haven't read it yet. For those who haven't read the series, I'd recommend it to those who like adventures, strong characters and some well-written humorous narrative.

My Rating: 8/10

Where I got my reading copy: I bought it.

Reviews of other books in this series:

• Cordelia's Honor
• Young Miles
• Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem

Review of The Snow Queen

	The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge 448pp (Paperback) My Rating: 10/10 Amazon Rating: 4.5/5 LibraryThing Rating: 4.08/5 Goodreads Rating: 3.92/5

The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge won the Hugo Award in 1981 and was also nominated for a Nebula Award. This science fiction novel was followed by a novella, World's End, which is the story of what happened to BZ Gundhalinu after the first novel ended. The Summer Queen is the direct sequel to The Snow Queen and was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1992. The most recent novel set in this universe, Tangled Up In Blue, is a stand-alone about BZ Gundhalinu that takes place during the earlier part of The Snow Queen. Unfortunately, The Snow Queen and World's End are both out of print now.

The story of The Snow Queen is loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale sharing the same title. The planet Tiamat is divided into two peoples, the Winters and the Summers. For about 150 years, the Stargate to other worlds remains open and during this time Tiamat is ruled by a Winter Queen. Once the gate closes and the foreigners leave, the Winter Queen is removed in favor of a Summer Queen. The Winters enjoy the technological benefits of the offworlders who visit during their time in power, but the Summers are a more spiritual people who do not share the Winters' interest in technology and are considered to be a rather primitive people by the Winters.

The reign of the Winter Queen, Arienrhod, is drawing to an end after 150 years during which she has been kept young by the "water of life." Reluctant to lose her important position, Arienrhod secretly had several clones created and raised as Summers in the hopes that one will survive and succeed her as queen. Only one of these doubles grows up to be a possibility for Arienrhod's successor, Moon Dawntreader Summer.

Moon and her cousin Sparks grew up together - and grew to love each other. Ever since they were young, Moon and Sparks have dreamed of becoming sybils, whom the Summers respect for their ability to enter into a trance and answer questions posed to them truly. While Moon passes the test, Sparks does not which causes a rift between them, particularly as it is known that to love a sybil is death. Sparks leaves for the Winter town of Carbuncle where Arienrhod rules, and once the queen hears that her clone's cousin is there, she uses him to draw Moon near. Yet her plan goes awry and Moon ends up leaving the world behind - and leaving both Arienrhod and Sparks to turn to each other while mourning her loss. However, Moon learns some important truths offworld and feels it is her destiny to return to Tiamat.

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The Snow Queen was not only my favorite book read in 2009 but is now one of my absolute favorite books I have ever read. It was a little slow at times, especially toward the beginning, but the way it all came together later made me feel even the slower parts added a lot. The world of Tiamat and the characters were both fascinating, and some of the scenes toward the end were so bittersweet and haunting that they will be sticking with me for a long time to come.

This is a difficult book for me to talk about without spoilers since the second half is where it began taking off and tying everything together so nicely. There's not anything I can think of that I didn't like about it since even the parts that seemed to drag a little when I first read them seemed important to me later - I don't think it would have been the same without them. I loved the writing, the characters, the story, the romance and the social structure of the planet Tiamat.

If there was one flaw I saw, it may be that Moon seemed too perfect - everyone seemed to love her, she showed kindness to those she had every reason to hate, she was beautiful, she never stopped caring for Sparks even when he could be a bit of a jerk, she fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming a sybil and she attained special knowledge. None of this mattered to me, though, and I even thought it worked with her character when it came to seeing how she was so similar yet so different from Arienrhod. They both had some shared traits but Moon was so innocent while the older queen was manipulative. It made me wonder if young Arienrhod was more like Moon and what that means for Moon's future.

Other than Moon, there were other characters who had their time in the limelight and I enjoyed reading about every single one of them. At first, I found myself wanting to just read about Moon or Arienrhod and wondered why there was time spent with some of the other characters, but by the end I found I couldn't imagine the book without each and every one of them as all of their stories affected me.

Tiamat itself was such a wonderful place to visit and was very well-developed without being full of dull descriptions. I really enjoyed reading about the divide between the Summers and Winters, the sybils and how they were viewed by the two different peoples and the discovery of what sybils were as well as the revelation about the source of the water of life.

The Snow Queen is a wonderful science fiction book with a well-realized setting and culture, great characters I came to really sympathize with, lovely writing and some memorable scenes. It's one of those rare books that I just love and wouldn't change in the least. I'm very much looking forward to reading The Summer Queen and more by Joan D. Vinge.

My Rating: 10/10

Where I got my reading copy: My husband gave me a signed copy for Christmas.

Review of Ascendant Sun

	Ascendant Sun by Catherine Asaro 384pp (Paperback) My Rating: 6/10 Amazon Rating: 4/5 LibraryThing Rating: 3.81/5 Goodreads Rating: 3.9/5

Ascendant Sun is the fifth novel published in Catherine Asaro's Saga of the Skolian Empire series. Currently, there are thirteen novels total in this science fiction series and chronologically Ascendant Sun comes after five other novels in the saga (it is not really sixth chronologically since there are three other novels following different characters set around the same time as this one). I would not recommend beginning with this book which is a direct sequel to The Last Hawk, the first book about the character Kelric. Although I think The Last Hawk is a decent starting point for the series, I do think it is a good idea to read Primary Inversion and The Radiant Seas (in that order) before reading Ascendant Sun or you will miss a lot of what is going on due to Kelric's rather limited perspective.

Please note that Ascendant Sun begins soon after The Last Hawk ends, which means there will be spoilers for the previous book in the plot description. If you do not want to know what happened, skip down to the horizontal line, which marks the end of the plot description.

After spending eighteen years on the planet Coba, Kelric returns to the Skolian Empire only to find it greatly changed. The Skolian web has collapsed, Aristos are openly walking around, his parents are being held in protective custody, and many of his family members are now dead including his brother Kurj and two of his Imperial heirs. Kelric realizes he is now the only surviving Imperial heir but decides it is best not to reveal he is in fact alive due to the current political situation. Yet Kelric himself is dying and needs money and better medical facilities than are available nearby in order to be healed.

After receiving some care at a clinic Kelric is at least well enough to manage for a little while, although he will still die if not treated. He finds a job to earn some money and is later approached by a man who can pay him a great deal of money. However, this high-paying job requires that he travel to a place he'd really rather avoid - Eubian space. In spite of the risk of capture, Kelric accepts since he realizes he just might have a chance to do some good for Skolia.

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So far I have read four of the books in this series in addition to this one - Primary Inversion, The Radiant Seas, Skyfall and The Last Hawk. Ascendant Sun is easily my least favorite book in the Saga of the Skolian Empire so far. All the other books were absorbing and difficult to put down, but I actually found this one difficult to get into and outright boring in a lot of places. There were certainly some great parts, but a lot of times I found myself reading this one just to get to the end instead of because I was enjoying it.

One of the reasons Ascendant Sun was disappointing was the incredible amount of infodump. The first couple of chapters covered the events in The Radiant Seas and there was also a lot of explanation about the empire in general and what occurred in The Last Hawk. It was probably intended to be accessible to readers even without being familiar with the other books in the series, but personally I don't think this book works well on its own at all anyway. The main moments I found satisfying were ones that I would not have cared about were I unfamiliar with some of the other characters and what had happened in Primary Inversion and The Radiant Seas. It was emotionally satisfying to read certain scenes because I had been following the plight of these characters.

All the explanations certainly slowed the book down, but that aside, it also just seemed a lot slower paced and less interesting than the other books although I'm not entirely sure what it is about it that kept me from being interested in what was happening at times. At first, I thought it was because it was mainly about Kelric and didn't carry on the main story, but I quickly realized that couldn't be the case. My favorite of the books, The Last Hawk, was all about Kelric and had far less to do with the other books in the series I've read so far on its own (although I suspect it will be important to the overall story arc just because of how it affected Kelric). Perhaps it is because for a while it seemed to be following a similar pattern as The Last Hawk but was missing the compelling setting and secondary characters (although there was one new character that I liked).

In spite of its failure to completely capture me to the same extent as the other books, it was not all bad. Kelric is still a character I enjoy reading about with his intelligence and introspective nature. There were a couple of interesting revelations from Kelric's time spent among the Eubians, and I do enjoy how Asaro manages to make a people with the need to torture others sympathetic and human - not good by any means, but many of them don't seem completely bad either. Two parts near the end also had me so excited I could have jumped up and down (if I had no dignity, that is) - not because they were surprising but just because it was so fulfilling to see them finally happen.

Although it is not the strongest book in the series, Ascendant Sun is not a waste of time for fans of the series who have read at least The Last Hawk, Primary Inversion and The Radiant Seas. There is a lot of explanation and slow parts to get through, but there are also some occurrences that are very rewarding to read about.

My Rating: 6/10

Where I got my reading copy: I bought it.

Reviews of related books (in chronological order):

• Skyfall
• The Last Hawk
• Primary Inversion
• The Radiant Seas

Review of Archangel

	Archangel by Sharon Shinn 400pp (Paperback) My Rating: 8.5/10 Amazon Rating: 4.5/5 LibraryThing Rating: 4.21/5 Goodreads Rating: 4.10/5

Archangel is a novel in Sharon Shinn's Samaria series, featuring a world in which angels and humans live together in harmony. The Samaria series is not published in chronological order, but on her website Shinn recommends reading the books in the following order (by release date): Archangel, Jovah's Angel, The Allelluia Files, Angelica, and Angel-Seeker. There is also a novella in the To Weave a Web of Magic anthology called "Fallen Angel" that was published after the novels. Although this novel is supposed to be science fiction, it seems more like a fantasy novel. However, I read the blurb on the novel that spoiled other books in the series, and there is a reason it is labeled science fiction instead of fantasy.

Every twenty years a new angel is chosen by the god Jovah to lead the people. The beginning of the Archangel's ascension is marked by the singing of the Gloria, which must be led by the mortal woman chosen by the god to be his wife, the Angelica. If the Gloria is not sung and attended by the appropriate people, Jovah will express his displeasure with thunderbolts. First he will destroy a mountain, then after a few days the river, and eventually the entire world if the Gloria is not performed to his satisfaction.

This is posing a bit of a problem for Gabriel, who is to become the new Archangel in 6 months and cannot find the woman chosen by Jovah to be his new wife. Although he has known he is to become Archangel for years, Gabriel kept putting off seeking the oracle to find out whom he is to marry. He figures he will have plenty of time to find her, and of course, every woman dreams of becoming the angelica so she'll be thrilled when he gives her the news. What Gabriel did not count on was Jovah's choice of Rachel, a farm girl who has not been in the location he was given for many years. After much searching, Gabriel has almost given up hope until he meets the slave girl who tends his fire in the morning and discovers that she is Rachel - who despises the prospect of becoming the new Angelica.

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Archangel is somewhat romantic in that there is some emphasis on the relationship between Gabriel and Rachel, but it is far from being a mushy, sicky sweet love story. Occasionally, the two got along, but for the most part Rachel and Gabriel argue. Or, more precisely, Gabriel tries to be kind to Rachel and Rachel is not very nice to him in return. In the very beginning of the story, the oracle told Gabriel that the Angelica would counterbalance him, which meant she would most likely humble him since he was an arrogant man. That's how it works, but honestly, I'm not quite sure how Gabriel put up with Rachel. At first, Gabriel is a bit disturbed by the fact that Jovah chose a slave girl for him, the Archangel of all Samaria, even though he was working to undo slavery in Samaria. Once he came to accept Rachel's humble origins, he did try to be very understanding to her, but she never tried at all. In fact, she did quite the opposite, and basically did everything she could to be a thorn in his side.

Part of the story is told from Gabriel's perspective, but more of it is from Rachel's perspective and it's really more her story than his. Because of this, you know about Rachel's past and how much she has lost, so she's at least somewhat more sympathetic than she would be otherwise. Even so, she became harder to empathize with the further I read. She was one of those characters you just wanted to knock some sense into. Once Gabriel got over his issue with her slavery, he was almost too perfect, and she couldn't just be even a little bit nice to him? He was a just man who was trying to make changes for the better throughout the land, and he did his best to ensure Rachel was as happy as possible. Yet stubborn Rachel always had to be difficult, and even though it makes sense with her character, I still wanted to yell at her to get a grip and quit being so immature and silly. Early on, I loved Rachel, and although I never really disliked her, I did like her less later and can see some readers coming to despise her.

Archangel is about more than just Rachel and Gabriel, although they are the main focus. It's also about Rachel adjusting to her new life and Gabriel's attempts to undo the problems created by his predecessor, the Archangel Raphael. Raphael lacked Gabriel's strong sense of justice and could be bought by the merchants. He was the one who allowed one race of people to be enslaved, and he turned out to be worse and worse.

Religion did play a major role in the storyline, but it seemed like part of the setting to me rather than preachiness even if part of the novel was about having faith in Jovah. Samaria's lands and people tended to have Biblical names and it was closer to the Old Testament than the new one - there was no Savior mentioned, just a god who needed to be pleased or smiting would commence. The people of Samaria tried to uphold the laws, but there was one group of people who believed differently from the rest, the Edori (who adopted Rachel at a young age when her parents died). Most of the people believed Jovah was supreme but the Edori believe that he was created by another being and answers to his creator. They also believed any person could talk to Yovah (their name for Jovah) even if he was not an oracle or angel. At Rachel's wedding, she converses with one of the oracles about the beliefs of the Edori and he wonders who taught them these beliefs and where they came from, which I am hoping is explored in further books. I would like to know more about Jovah, where he came from, and which beliefs about him are actually true. The world beliefs in this novel and how they were executed was one of my favorite aspects of the book.

Archangel was a wonderful book with an intriguing setting based on Biblical ideas. Although I loved the main heroine for about half the book, her attitude did become wearying toward the end, but it was always readable and kept me wanting to find out what happened next. I'd definitely like to read more of the books in this series.

8.5/10

Review of The Silver Metal Lover

	The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee 304pp (Paperback) My Rating: 7/10 Amazon Rating: 4.5/5 LibraryThing Rating: 4.27/5 Goodreads Rating: 4.51/5

The Silver Metal Lover by the prolific Tanith Lee was originally published in 1981. It has one sequel, Metallic Love, published about 24 years after the first book. The Silver Metal Lover stands alone well as a complete story, and Metallic Love, which focuses on a different set of characters, actually takes place twelve years after this one. From what I have heard, the second book is not nearly as good as its predecessor, but not having actually read it, I can't supply my own opinion on the matter. The basic premise of the story is a girl falls in love with a robot but The Silver Metal Lover is much more than that - both a bittersweet romantic tale and a coming of age story told from the perspective of sixteen year old Jane.

Jane is a wealthy teenage girl who has never had to think for herself: she's perfectly happy to adopt her mother's opinions as her own. She's rarely had to make decisions on her own since everything from her ideal hair color to the perfect weight for her body type have been made for her and are regulated through treatments and pills. Her life consists of keeping up with the latest dramas of her "friends" (most of whom she admits she doesn't even actually like) and pleasing her mother until she hears a singer on the street. When she sees his face, Jane thinks he is beautiful. However, he is not a man but S.I.L.V.E.R., one of the newest creations of Electronic Metals, Ltd., a manufacturer of robots who have a new line of machines that appear to be very human.

As much as Jane tries to forget about this robot, she keeps encountering him and eventually comes to the realization that she is in love with a machine. Although she is rich, Jane does have a monthly cap on her allowance to teach her responsibility and does not have enough money to buy Silver. Her friend Clovis concocts a plan to help Jane get what she wants from their friend Egyptia, who has rented Silver, but this time with the robot is fleeting. In desperation, Jane sells all her possessions and gives up her life of luxury in order to possess her one true love - and in the process, she grows up and learns a lot about herself.

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The entire novel is a diary kept by Jane as she tries to resolve her personal issues with her love for the robot Silver and the likelihood of her mother's disapproval. In the beginning, Jane is exceptionally melodramatic and cries... A LOT. The first time she saw Silver, she cried. When he came over and talked to her, she started crying again. After that, she went to her friend Clovis's house where she broke down and wept some more. She is also not particularly independent and finds it comforting that her mother is opinionated so she does not have to be. Jane's identity is very closely tied to her mother in the early part of the novel, as she barely has a thought that is not followed by her pondering what her mother would say about it. These traits do indeed make her somewhat annoying to start with, but she is not a stagnant character. Once Jane begins to realize the truth about herself, she makes a confession to Silver:

"I'm very stupid," I said, "and very selfish. That's because I'm rich and I don't know much about real life. And I've been sheltered. And I have a lot of faults."

This was a real turning point for Jane. Not only does she come to realize some of her flaws, but from this point on, she does grow a lot as a character and becomes much more likable (and less weepy, fortunately).

Throughout the novel both Jane and Silver change as they both become less and less victims of the ways they are supposed to function. Jane loves Silver even though he claims to be a mere machine that is incapable of emotion, a commodity that has been created and programmed to please any human being he is interacting with. Yet mainly because of Silver, Jane discovers who she really is underneath all the ways she personally has been programmed throughout her entire life. Likewise, Silver learns that he is not exactly what he has always believed due to his relationship with Jane.

Lee's prose is beautifully poignant without being terribly dense, a combination I rarely see. The Silver Metal Lover is a fairly short, easy read, but there are some nicely written moments, such as Jane's revelation that she is in love with Silver as he walks away from her:

And there was only him. Everything else became a backdrop, and then it went away altogether. And he went away and nothing came back to replace him.

I've written this down on paper because I just couldn't say it aloud to the tape. Tomorrow, my mother will ask what I wanted to discuss with her. But this isn't for my mother. It's for some stranger - for you, whoever you are - someone who'll never read it. Because that's the only way I could say any of it. I can't tell Demeta, can I?

He's a machine, and I'm in love with him.

He's with Egyptia, and I'm in love with him.

He's been packed up in a crate, and I'm in love with him.

Mother, I'm in love with a robot...

It is true that Jane is a bit extremely dramatic sometimes, especially earlier in the book, but I think it's perfectly fitting and believable for the diary of a teenage girl.

Although this story is touching and sweet at times, it is not all happy. Readers who enjoy neatly tied up happy endings will want to avoid this book. The ending did fail to affect me as much as I really felt it should have, but I think that is because Jane wrote about it after the fact so I had an idea of what was coming from how she opened that section.

Overall, I found this novel very readable and flew through it, but I also felt like it was missing something, partially because it failed to truly sadden me the way I thought it should have. That may have just been because I've found I don't seem to get as emotionally involved in reading a story as I used to (or maybe I just haven't been reading about the types of characters that I can really sympathize with lately). Once I put it down, I didn't find myself thinking about it at all until I reread parts of it for writing this review. I actually appreciated it a lot more when I reread parts of it than I did while I was reading it and immediately afterward.

The Silver Metal Lover is a lovely story about love and growing up. As the journal of a sixteen year old in the process of learning about the world, it can be rather full of angst, but Jane does learn about herself and become wiser about herself and the world as she writes about her life and thoughts.

7/10