Ascension (Tangled Axon, #1) by Jacqueline Koyanagi

Aug 23, 2013 TheBookSmugglers rated it really liked it

Shelves: awesome-girls, diversity, feminism, lgbtq, notable-reads-of-2013, poc, science-fiction-awesomeness, science

This is what you need to know about Ascension, in a nutshell: a main character who is a queer woman of colour, grappling with a debilitating chronic illness in a context of poverty, who has a difficult relationship with her sister and starts to fall in love with another awesome female character who is polyamorous. IN SPACE.

If the above is not the definition of “shut up and take my money”, I don’t know what is.

Alana Quick is a sky surgeon in a crumbling shipyard who is forever worried about makin This is what you need to know about Ascension, in a nutshell: a main character who is a queer woman of colour, grappling with a debilitating chronic illness in a context of poverty, who has a difficult relationship with her sister and starts to fall in love with another awesome female character who is polyamorous. IN SPACE.

If the above is not the definition of “shut up and take my money”, I don’t know what is.

Alana Quick is a sky surgeon in a crumbling shipyard who is forever worried about making ends meet. Hardly any vessels need to be fixed these days and Alana hasn’t been able to get a secure job on any ships so far. It doesn’t help that she has a painful chronic illness that is kept in check with expensive pills and whose cure looms in the horizon if only she could afford it.

Then a cargo vessel drops by looking to hire the services of her sister Nova (who is a spiritual guide) and Alana doesn’t think twice before stowing away. Maybe she can use the knowledge of Nova’s whereabouts as leverage to join the crew (this strange, strange crew that includes a fading girl, a wolf-man and a hot [HOT] captain) maybe she can join them on their quest to find a cure for their ailing pilot (and help herself as well).

But things are not that easy or as romantic as Alana expects them to be. There is real danger out there: the people who want Nova’s help don’t necessarily have her best interest at heart. When the unthinkable happens, all of a sudden they are all on the run for their lives.

There is a lot that is pretty awesome about Ascension including the way that Alana falls in love with ships, the hot (HOT) romance Alana and skyship captain Tev and the way that relationships and people are portrayed as fluid and ever evolving in a myriad of positive ways. But I was particularly impressed by its treatment of chronic illness and the fraught relationship between Alana and her sister Nova. With regards to the former, it is in the way that Alana pushes herself mostly because she needs to not only because she loves her job so much and nothing can stop her from performing it but also because she is poor and doesn’t have a choice but to work to pay for her meds. The contextual background of poverty is one that informs a lot of her decision-making and in a way this book could have been set right here, right now.

I especially liked how these two strands are so intricately linked in the way that their difficult relationship taps into the way both have learnt to relate to their bodies. Alana’s disease and the very real presence of pain makes her cling to her body whereas her sister wants to let it go. But for Nova, of course, it goes beyond that. It would be also so easy to reduce Nova’s decisions simply to a reaction to Alana’s illness but the story actually avoids this by making it a point to explore the topic of able body privilege. In this context this is a difficult topic because of how close both women are and the fact that Alana has limits doesn’t (shouldn’t) preclude Nova from having a choice to do what she wants with her own body regardless of how Alana feels about it. It is a strained, difficult relationship as a result and I loved this arc.

But there is not all there is to it. Alana’s narrative is one that is forged from her own experiences and prejudices and one that often exudes a certain level of naivety – part of her arc is that she still has a bit of growing up to do by learning to relate to other people. So in way, it is completely understandable that she’d behave the way she did, irresponsibly leaving her aunt behind on her own to join the crew of the Tangled Axon because of the dream as well as the possibility of a cure.

That said, it is not all rainbows and ponies. There is a certain lull in the narrative half-way through the novel and a certain tendency of the text to rely way too much on people not communicating with each other. At times it seemed that the plot only moved forward because of secrets that were kept for no good reason other than to prolong the dramatic tension.

But in the end, this was a pretty good novel. I can’t wait to read more adventures with the Tangled Axon crew. ...more

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Jul 01, 2013 AnHeC the Paperback Obliterator rated it it was ok

Shelves: gallimaufry, rommance, si-fi, arc, drama-llama

Word count: about 98 000
Rating: By all means, do move at a glacial pace; you know how that thrills me
Book-ie provided by NetGalley

First of all BLURB is a lie!

The main problem with this book is it doesn’t know what it wants to be. A si-fi? A romance? An adventure? A philosophical story? Should we identify with/like the MC or just witness the events? If you try to be everything at once, you fail, like that flying fish with legs. (Wait, what? What fish? Well, exactly my point.) Reading this book ...more

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Jun 21, 2018 lov2laf rated it really liked it

Shelves: 300-350-pages, actually-autistic-authors, action, adventure, borrowed-scribd, drama, ethnic-diversity, family-theme, characters-with-disability, finding-self

I've read a decent number of sci-fi books in the last couple of years but this is the first time the term "space opera" comes to mind.

Alana is a ship engineer living in poverty and barely has enough to buy the meds for her chronic
immune deficiency disease. She's always wanted to go to outer space but lack of opportunity has kept her planet bound. That is, until one space ship in particular calls to her and she can't help but stowaway and embark on an adventure she never bargained for.

This stor I've read a decent number of sci-fi books in the last couple of years but this is the first time the term "space opera" comes to mind.

Alana is a ship engineer living in poverty and barely has enough to buy the meds for her chronic
immune deficiency disease. She's always wanted to go to outer space but lack of opportunity has kept her planet bound. That is, until one space ship in particular calls to her and she can't help but stowaway and embark on an adventure she never bargained for.

This story has a lot going for it. The narrative was vivid, the characters distinct, and the plot was unpredictable. As for world-building, my definition may differ from others but if an author can immerse me into a story and create some new concepts, then I consider it good world-building which is the case for this book. However, there isn't a lot of explanation into the science or politics behind it all so if that's important to you, you may be disappointed. This was more of a character driven story about how each person affected one another and how one evolves when pushed to extremes. The pacing of the story was good and, quality-wise, it was also edited really well.

The story is very action adventure based and the crew is sent on a wild sprint across space as they're
put into a compromising position and are racing against a deadline. There's also an f/f romantic subplot that takes place between Alana and another character (not spoiling who that is). Family and spirituality are also themes that coarse through the book.

Overall, I did like the read. If I had any gripes I found Alana to be overly dramatic and basically petulant at times. Not often but enough. I don't like my leads falling into that but, for the most part, I liked and respected her character. And, for all of the ailments she had Alana still kept going which made me think she was wonder woman-like. My perception was probably affected by the fact that when I read this I'd pulled a muscle playing hide-and-seek and was nearly debilitated for a few days. You can laugh. I did. And, towards the end, it felt a little loosey goosey as romance, spirituality, and philosophy came into the read which made it less of an adventure and more about going into the meaning of life. Whatever mentions there were of spirituality or god, as I'm atheist, it wasn't awful. Some of it was based in science and could be interpreted as the awe of the universe that we can't explain. It's spiritual but not preachy.

Some things to note, the book has ethnic diversity and our lead, Alana, is black. The chronic disease descriptions and how it impacts Alana seems really authentic and is part of the character rather than a throwaway or token-like condition. The read also includes polyamory relationships. As for sexual orientations, it comes in diverse forms and isn't considered a cultural issue.

This looks to be part of a series but it's been a few years and book two hasn't arrived yet. Regardless, the first book is a complete standalone and I didn't feel like there were any loose ends.

For me, this wasn't a perfect read but I still enjoyed it especially because it was so different from what I usually find in books with f/f relationships. ...more

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Aug 25, 2013 The FountainPenDiva, Old school geek chick and lover of teddy bears rated it it was amazing

Shelves: best-damn-book-ever, books-that-are-keepers, characters-black-heroines, characters-kick-ass-heroines, author-is-my-rock-star

Woman of Color on the cover? Check!
Science-fiction space opera? Check!
Lesbian protagonist who is PoC? Check!
Spaceships? Check!
What the hell else do I need? Oh yes, to buy this ASAP!
Already bought and totally engrossed? Check!
Loving Alana? Double-check!

OMG!!!!
Seldom am I at a loss for words, but OMG, this novel pushed ALL my happy science-fiction geek chick buttons in a way that I haven't experienced since the glorious day I discovered Octavia Butler more than twenty odd years ago! This novel jus ...more

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Mar 14, 2015 anna (readingpeaches) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1-science-fiction, favourites, 3-lgbt, 3-sapphic, 3-ownvoices, 3-authors-of-color, 3-protags-of-color, 3-lgbt-authors

okay so listen:

* it’s written by a woman of japanese descent
* the main character is a black woman
* who’s an engineer
* and a lesbian
* she has a chronic illness
* ((and the narrative talks about how fucked are poor ppl who have it))
* she has a difficult relationship with her sister
* and suffers from ptsd
* there’s a character with a prosthesis
* also a woman
* actually, PRETTY MUCH ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE WOMEN
* seriously there are like two dudes
* and there are no pointless love triangles???
* there is ...more

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May 22, 2013 Nikki rated it really liked it

Shelves: speculative-fiction, queer, netgalley, received-to-review

I got this from Netgalley a while ago, but my backlog is horrendous and I took so long to get round to reading it that I'm not sure if there's a place to upload my review anymore. Still, here I am, doing my bit for this novel. I enjoyed it a lot, read it in more or less one sitting. It helps that there's a POC on the cover, who is the protagonist -- who is also disabled and a lesbian; it helps that it's a story about all kinds of love -- sisterly, romantic, friendship. Polyamorous, monogamous... ...more

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Jun 19, 2016 K.J. Charles added it

Shelves: f-f, fun-fun-fun, lesbian, oh-god-where-is-the-next-book, space-opera

I hugely enjoyed this. It's much more fantasy than sci-fi in the end, or at least it's far heavier on the mystical elements than the spaceship engineering, which is fine by me. The writing is pretty baroque at points, but I found it fluent and evocative, and I adored the heroine. It's almost as much romance as SFF, with lots of tension, although were I rating it as a romance I'd have wanted a bit more meat on the conflict's bones. Picky picky.

The other thing is, the diversity. Which I feel a bi ...more

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Sep 19, 2013 liz rated it did not like it

There are a lot of reasons to be excited about this book! I completely empathize with the author's stated intent: "[Jacqueline Koyanagi's] stories feature queer women of color, folks with disabilities, neuroatypical characters, and diverse relationship styles, because she grew tired of not seeing enough of herself and the people she loves reflected in genre fiction." I get that, and I want to read books by people who feel the same way I do! Unfortunately, Koyanagi's biggest goal is also where As There are a lot of reasons to be excited about this book! I completely empathize with the author's stated intent: "[Jacqueline Koyanagi's] stories feature queer women of color, folks with disabilities, neuroatypical characters, and diverse relationship styles, because she grew tired of not seeing enough of herself and the people she loves reflected in genre fiction." I get that, and I want to read books by people who feel the same way I do! Unfortunately, Koyanagi's biggest goal is also where Ascension fails the hardest: having a diverse cast of well-realized characters. No good social justice intentions can or should mask the fact that the book is completely awful.

(view spoiler)[I liked the first 50 or so pages, but like many GoodReads reviewers I was unpleasantly surprised by the other 4/5ths of the novel. Ascension mastered the art of at once having too much going on, moving too slow, constantly lingering on repetitive introspection, and yet refusing to let any of the events of the story have an impact on the characters. I don't know how this is even possible. At the same time, the prose is so labored and so purple that the book should have been 100-150 pages rather than its full 250+. Every single plot point is nonsensical and insulting. A tracking beacon on a 1 hour delay that somehow doesn't lead the authorities to the ship? The same beacon not only shot a missile capable of destroying a planet, it also is itself a bomb that will detonate if the crew ejects it into space? So they detonate it inside the ship?

In addition, every single one of these characters is repulsive. The whole book feels like an excuse to check off a square on a tumblr diversity bingo card. Every member of the Tangled Axon crew is poorly developed, one-dimensional, tokenized, and fake--and they can't even stay consistently characterized within their narrow stereotypes. Alana, the stowaway engineer protagonist, alternates between obsessive and repetitive creepily sexualized descriptions of how she'd like to work on the ship, petulant fits that put everyone in danger and that she refuses to learn from, and cowed acceptance of abuse heaped on her by every other character. Being stuck inside Alana's head for 250 pages is massively frustrating.

Alana's love interest, the ship's captain, is Mal from Firefly in the body of a blonde woman. I can't remember the woman's name for the life of me, in spite of being hit over the head with it for 250 pages, because she is so completely lacking unique qualities or characterization beyond "queer," "poly," and "abusive." The representation of her poly relationship is extremely troubling--the crew of the Tangled Axon feels more like a cult than a healthy and mutually supportive family. I hate books that try to sell me on the romance and purity of relationships that begin in violence--in this case, the captain tazes Alana and soon after orders the medic, Slip, to administer what she tells Alana and her sister is a poison that will exacerbate Alana's chronic illness. Alana's betrayed and terrified reaction is one of the few moments in which she briefly becomes a real and relatable person. She shatters this by proceeding to almost instantly fall in love with the captain, even before it is revealed that the drug was saline and the goal was emotional coercion, not physical.

Alana knows that Slip and the captain are dating, but the captain refuses to clarify the nature of their relationship, or indeed that of any crew member with another, in spite of repeatedly making advances on Alana and witnessing Alana's increasing hurt and confusion. Slip is in turn planning a family with the ship's engineer, Ovie the wolf otherkin. No one explains any of this to Alana, who is constantly threatened by her loving crew. This is shockingly poor, disrespectful, and controlling behavior. At the end of the book, Alana gamely gives poly dating a whirl but finds it upsetting and confusing. Slip—not the captain, the captain’s other partner—confronts Alana privately and bullies her into staying in a relationship she clearly does not want by guilt tripping her for feeling upset and confused, and for being in love with the ship. This last is weird to the reader, who by this point in the novel has put up with over 200 pages of hints that the pilot's soul has melded with the ship, the purportedly shocking reveal that the pilot is the ship, and further that the pilot's soul is old but her body is that of a young teenager.

If this sounds impossible to follow and impossibly stupid, that's because it is.

Other characters and relationships that are awful include: every other person briefly mentioned in this train wreck, but especially Nova and Ovie. Nova is Alana's sister, a "spirit guide"--some kind of psychic empath yoga life coach whose powers and role in society are never adequately explained. Her characterization varies wildly from an ableist privilege punching bag to a wise and worldly puppet master who has secretly known what was happening in the convoluted plot the whole time and already orchestrated a solution. Her spirit guide training included mandatory anorexia, which is not handled particularly delicately. Ovie, the ship's engineer, is a man who thinks he's a wolf, or spiritually is a wolf—through the other characters’ rebuffs to Alana’s curiosity the author smugly refuses to clarify. Alana is incapable of figuring out that Ovie is a wolf, despite noting Ovie’s shadow tail and ears every time she looks at him, wondering why he growls and barks a lot, and generally thinking to herself "wow, that guy is a wolf." Ovie is massively one-dimensional and basically acts like a poorly socialized Labrador, which seems consistent with otherkin understandings of wolf behavior.

The plot is terrible, the characters are terrible, nothing that happens makes any sense or means anything, and I only finished the book because it made me so mad I couldn't sleep. I’ve written almost 1000 words about how bad this book is and only barely scratched the surface. Possibly the worst thing, though, is that I believe very strongly in what Koyanagi is trying to do, and watching the book fail this badly feels like a personal betrayal. (hide spoiler)] ...more

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Jul 16, 2015 Shira Glassman rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: people looking for women-centered sci-fi

Recommended to Shira by: Natalie Luhrs

Shelves: femslash, qwoc, sff-speculative, asian-asian-diaspora-authors, ff-sff

Ascension is an incredible book full of facets I never imagined from just the blurb. I'm growing increasingly dissatisfied with blurbs lately; this marks the third book that took me forever to read because the back jacket made it sound like an entirely different kind of story than it was.

At its core, this is a book about two incredibly different sisters who come to understand each other more while dealing with intense issues of life, death, pain management, and space technology. It's a book abou Ascension is an incredible book full of facets I never imagined from just the blurb. I'm growing increasingly dissatisfied with blurbs lately; this marks the third book that took me forever to read because the back jacket made it sound like an entirely different kind of story than it was.

At its core, this is a book about two incredibly different sisters who come to understand each other more while dealing with intense issues of life, death, pain management, and space technology. It's a book about grieving the loss of family and dealing with chronic illness--both of these written with such incredible truth (the author is herself disabled so that part just naturally rang true, and as someone who has lost plenty of family members I found myself agreeing completely with the protagonist's description of her response and healing process.)

It's also a book in which a bunch of space women (and one space man who is actually a space wolf; just go with it) wind up in poly relationships by the end. The "how did I get myself in even worse trouble than last time" narrator, a spaceship mechanic, is in love with the tough-girl captain, who's dating the ship's doctor, and it all works out for everybody thanks to the author's strong desire to see families like hers represented in science fiction.

I've seen it compared to Firefly, or "Firefly, except with disabled queer women, and more women of color!" (which includes the protagonist) but honestly that's just a surface resemblance because of the spaceship setting, family of choice, and "fighting the Big Establishment" ethos. What really makes this book special has nothing to do with Firefly. It veers far closer into science fiction territory rather than space opera, exploring issues of multiple realities and the idea of bending reality itself. There are excellent plot twists, and the resolution of the book was an entirely different kind of scene than the "boss fight" I'd been expecting.

Related: what is it with lesbians growing plants out of their bodies? This is the second book I've read in 2016 where that happened and it's not even March yet. Yes, it's an awesome image. (The other one was in Chameleon Moon.) I won't explain what happens here but it's awesome when you get to it. Suffice it to say that during that entire scene, the euphoria experienced by the protagonist (who herself has been turned into some kind of... dinosaur? Dragon? Hey, I'm there for it. Y'all know me) totally reminded me of Shabbat at temple. I don't feel bad about saying that even after the book reveals that the euphoria comes with its downsides, because my religious meditations are mild enough that I can, you know, leave shul when it's time to go home. (If none of what I said makes sense, revisit this review after you've read the book.)

There are some awesomely poetic lines in this book; I loved it best when it got rapturous and songlike. I love how space is called the Big Quiet and "the silence."

Trigger/content warnings for family members dying (view spoiler), a graphic description of why someone has a prosthetic, and mention of religious anorexia. ...more

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Jul 14, 2017 Rachel (Kalanadi) rated it it was ok

Shelves: science-fiction

I had so many reasons for reading this - queer rep, women of color rep, chronic illness rep, etc. I've seen this book recommended for these very elements and it intrigued me. The beginning was great and got off with a bang, but then it took a left turn and became far more "space romance" than "sci fi adventure". This story has so many strong ideas and so much promise and I felt it was let down by weak writing and plot holes. I also thought some of the key elements - especially the handling of th I had so many reasons for reading this - queer rep, women of color rep, chronic illness rep, etc. I've seen this book recommended for these very elements and it intrigued me. The beginning was great and got off with a bang, but then it took a left turn and became far more "space romance" than "sci fi adventure". This story has so many strong ideas and so much promise and I felt it was let down by weak writing and plot holes. I also thought some of the key elements - especially the handling of the poly romance - were handled poorly, giving me a lot of "this isn't right" vibes.

(view spoiler)

A lot of other reviews here have pointed out other problems beyond this. I would also point out that the worldbuilding is incredibly unbelievable and paper thin and very little made sense when I tried to think about how it actually worked. This drives me nuts, especially when it reads very strongly as mystic fantasy instead of the science fiction it's billed as. Spirit guides? Soul ascension? Magic ships? A guy who's actually a wolf...? It was odd.

And yet I also came away wanting to know more about some of the characters. Alana, the main character, not so much, but her sister Nova was the one character I felt I saw in a much different light at the end of the book than at her introduction. That was interesting!

As far as the writing goes, aside from the massive plot holes and handwaiving to move the story along, the emotions were incredibly over-described (which meant that I didn't feel anything) and, um, everyone is so aromatic. That's not a typo. I mean, literally, that everyone smells of something and it's constantly repeated. Marre's honey, Tev's rosemary, Nova is jasmine or something, and... I think I'd have a headache if I stood close to these people for too long.

Bottom line: It's romance more than adventure, and it's more mystical than sci fi. I really did like how Alana's chronic illness is portrayed, and how very real it is to struggle with a condition with little hope of continual medication or a cure. Recommended if you really wished the found family aspect of Firefly had actually been a real big happy polyamorous family and they lived in the Stargate: Atlantis universe where Ascension is real.

I'll read what Koyanagi publishes next, but I kinda hope it's a new concept and world altogether. ...more

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Jul 28, 2013 Blanche rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: not-worth-the-effort-of-reading, trite-prose

From the blurb, a reader in search of diversity in SFF might think they hit the mother-lode. Indeed, you can see this reflected in the reviews on Goodreads and elsewhere -- queer! woman! of colour! with a disability! -- as we proclaim that, yes, the characters of Ascension are not like those of other genre fiction. (Or even: They're like me! being one who fulfils 3/4 of the above.) Unfortunately, those characters are not very interesting, nor do they do much of interest, and there is little worl From the blurb, a reader in search of diversity in SFF might think they hit the mother-lode. Indeed, you can see this reflected in the reviews on Goodreads and elsewhere -- queer! woman! of colour! with a disability! -- as we proclaim that, yes, the characters of Ascension are not like those of other genre fiction. (Or even: They're like me! being one who fulfils 3/4 of the above.) Unfortunately, those characters are not very interesting, nor do they do much of interest, and there is little world-building to support the world they live in. Ultimately the focus of this book is not the SF, but the romance, and it would have been better classified as such.

From the start, I found the premise questionable. It is not preposterous for a spacecraft engineer to not have journeyed upon one -- or so acquaintances in astronautic engineering have told me -- in our universe, but it was difficult to believe, and not well supported, that the narrator would not have been able to apply through some corporation to have an on-ship post, or off-world post, if she were indeed the "best damned sky surgeon" in her city. (Her being the "best damned sky surgeon" itself was difficult to believe when there was little evidence of such displayed in even her internal dialogue. Show, don't tell.) Thus when she steals her away onto the ship as a stowaway, I lost sympathy for her and any of her further endeavours and never was able to regain it. The only saving grace is that the other characters also recognise her immaturity. Unfortunately I did not care enough for them to appreciate them because the reader can only see them through the narrator, a detriment to the choice of having a first-person narrative.

Plot, plot, is there even a plot? There seemed to be one, for a while, but it disappeared under the romance, which is how this book would best be classified. Again, appreciate that there were queer romances, but I would have preferred that they were less of a focus of the book. (Here as well is the narrative choice a detriment.)

As an aside, there is also the case that perhaps I lack the popular culture references needed to enjoy this. At times reading Ascension, I found myself wondering whether the author had watched Firefly and thought that it would have been better with more women involved. (Looking now at the author's personal site confirms her to be a fan.) Another reviewer raises that the ship had no purpose, and I agree: For what reason do these people remain together? Cynically, I respond: Well, the band of misfit friends of Firefly was amusing, so why not here? ...more

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Jul 07, 2013 Wendy rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley, science-fiction

[ETA]Check out this inspiring and insightful interview with Ascension author Jacqueline Koyanagi!

Alana Quick is a sky surgeon, as evident by her long locs. She loves ships as one loves a significant other and has lost a few of the latter because she places her work first and foremost in her life. But she’s never actually left her homeworld in one. There is little money in her line of work, but she loves it too much to ever consider doing anything else and she refuses to sell out to Transliminal, ...more

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Jul 14, 2017 Paul rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: z_archive17_bought2017books, own-ebook, z_archive17_read-2017all, z_archive17_read-2017books

Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi was an alright read that just needed more time spent in the planning stages. This book started out great, there was an interesting plotline about a woman with a chronic illness that struggled to afford to pay for her and her aunt's medication but she loved working on space ships and mechanical things so much, it was her calling in life. In order to have a better life for herself and her aunt, she stowaways on a ship looking for her sister, to attempt to talk the Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi was an alright read that just needed more time spent in the planning stages. This book started out great, there was an interesting plotline about a woman with a chronic illness that struggled to afford to pay for her and her aunt's medication but she loved working on space ships and mechanical things so much, it was her calling in life. In order to have a better life for herself and her aunt, she stowaways on a ship looking for her sister, to attempt to talk the crew into becoming their engineer. The only reason they allow her to stay is because they are looking for her sister who is a spirit guide with a connection to the woman that might save the life of one of their crewmates. From this point, the story turns into a bit of a mess as the relationship focus wasn't really my thing, and the world building/magic just didn't make a whole lot of sense.

This book has lesbian characters along with a polyamorous relationship so if that is something you are interested in reading about, give it a try. I'm very pro-monogamy, so I couldn't really connect much to the polyamory aspects of the story. Also, I didn't think the characters were truthful enough with each other about their relationships for me to find the situation that they were in as something I could sympathize with. There was just a lot of lusting after the love interest and it didn't seem like there was much of an emotional connection between the people in the relationship. If the characters were more honest with each other and it focused less on falling for someone that already had a partner, I could see myself liking this book a lot more.

The magic, world building, and some plot elements just didn't really make a whole lot of sense at times. I didn't think that most of the book was explained very well and I feel that the tight first person perspective didn't help the reader understand. I liked some of the ideas in the story and I thought the characters had a lot of potential but were overshadowed by the problems. Overall I probably would give Koyanagi a second chance but probably not in this series.

2/5
9/25 Possible Score
1 - Plot
3 - Characters
1 - World Building
2 - Writing Style
2 - Heart & Mind Aspect
...more

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May 05, 2015 Book Riot Community added it

Shelves: science-fiction, swords-and-spaceships-recs

This is the diverse, queer sci-fi novel you’ve (I’ve) been waiting for! This was so much fun to read. A sky surgeon (spaceship mechanic) sneaks onto a ship to try to get a job, but things don’t go according to plan, and she may accidentally be involved in the kidnapping of her own sister. The plot is entertaining (including alternate universes!), but what made it even better was reading this space adventure story from the perspective of a black lesbian with a chronic illness. Ascension just make ...more

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Jul 09, 2013 Angela rated it it was ok

I powered through this one because I really WANTED to like it. A hard SF novel about a lesbian woman of color? What's not to like?

First, the world building was a mess. It's a very difficult task in any SFF novel, to balance the audience's need to know versus boring info dumps. Here it took so long for some things to be made explicit that the big reveals were robbed of their impact, because I had already assumed that what was being implied and forshadowed was actual fact. When it's revealed that ...more

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Oct 14, 2013 Mpauli rated it liked it

Shelves: genre_sf, rating_3-stars, setting_distant-planets, orga_read-in-2014

Love isn't explainable with the brain. It just "is". There're no rules, no explanations and it's just a beautiful feeling.

This is one of the messages Jacqueline Koyanagi tells us with her novel "Ascension". Within we're following Alana Quick, a sky surgeon, which is Koyanagi's equivalent of a cheap, run-down engineer who works out of a small shop and has never seen space.
In addition to that, Alana has a painful illness and needs constant medication to manage her pain. Her life changes the moment Love isn't explainable with the brain. It just "is". There're no rules, no explanations and it's just a beautiful feeling.

This is one of the messages Jacqueline Koyanagi tells us with her novel "Ascension". Within we're following Alana Quick, a sky surgeon, which is Koyanagi's equivalent of a cheap, run-down engineer who works out of a small shop and has never seen space.
In addition to that, Alana has a painful illness and needs constant medication to manage her pain. Her life changes the moment the star ship "Tangled Axon" lands on her planet. The crew is looking for her sister Nova though and isn't interested to add another engineer to their ranks. But Alana wants to finally fullfill her dream of working on a space ship and hides herself aboard the Tangled Axon.
There she has to convince Captain Tev and her crew of her ability to help them find her sister. And Alana also wants to convince Captain Tev of more, cause she starts to fall for the bossy lady.

The diverse cast of the Tangled Axon is one of the strengths of Ascension. With the exception of Ovie, the engineer who believes he's meant to be a dog/wolf, all the other crew members are women. Captain Tev, Slip, the doctor and Marre, the Pilot, who has a strange disease of her own.
This is not your typical starship crew and it's a nice change from genre standards.

After a strong first third the novel starts a bit to slow down, meanders all over the place and fizzles a bit. The romance plays a bigger role than the space opera in the middle of the book and there are some interesting philosophical questions asked, but they also slow down the plot.

As with the concept of love mentioned in the beginning, Koyanagi treats the concept of world-building. It just is, it needs no great explanation. That is a bit sad, cause she has thought of some interesting building blocks for her world such as spirit guides or a company from another universe with seemingly infinite ressources and power, but shes never really goes into the details of the hows and whys. It's okay, cause it isn't the story she wants to tell, but I would have liked a bit more on that frot.

There are a few action scenes in the novel, but again only if really needed. The goal is to show a lot of interaction instead of action.
So overall, this is far away from a bad read, but it didn't have enough of the things I like to get me really excited about it.
But if you like some romance in your Space Opera and don't shy away from 1-2 philosophical questions, the Ascension is definitely worth a look. Remember, the books just wants to be, so let it. ...more

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Mar 03, 2018 Tainá rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 4-and-a-half-stars, ff, favorite, sci-fi, slow-burn, want-to-read-again, woc

I think one of the reasons I loved this book so much was because I didn’t know much about it before reading it. So I’m not gonna give too much away. Just know that blurb doesn’t really reflect how amazing this book is.

It is so layered and so beautiful. It deals with poverty, pain, grief and so many different types of love.

The story is told by Alana’s pov, a woman who’s dealing with a chronic illness with a treatment far more expensive than she can afford and has loved the sky and the old ships ...more

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Nov 18, 2016 Aliette rated it really liked it

An affecting space opera with a diverse cast which reminded me of Firefly (and I don't very often say that). Loved the Alana/Nova dynamic, and the way people turned out to have hidden depths.

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Apr 28, 2014 ambyr rated it it was ok

Shelves: acquiredㅡgift, authorㅡfemale, authorㅡpoc, book-club, characterㅡdisabled, characterㅡlgbt, genreㅡscience-fiction, i-am-exactly-the-right-audience, ownㅡcurrently, protagonistㅡfemale

This book does a lot of interesting things very poorly. I appreciate the diversity of the cast, but I'd appreciate it more if that diversity didn't feel pasted on. The main character has a chronic pain disorder, but the symptoms disappear and reappear whenever it's convenient to the plot, allowing her to be an action hero as needed. At one point she breaks her ribs; then she falls in love, and this is apparently curative, because the injury is never mentioned again and certainly doesn't inhibit This book does a lot of interesting things very poorly. I appreciate the diversity of the cast, but I'd appreciate it more if that diversity didn't feel pasted on. The main character has a chronic pain disorder, but the symptoms disappear and reappear whenever it's convenient to the plot, allowing her to be an action hero as needed. At one point she breaks her ribs; then she falls in love, and this is apparently curative, because the injury is never mentioned again and certainly doesn't inhibit that love's enthusiastic consummation.

The overall worldbuilding was intriguing, and I would have loved to hear more about Transliminal's overall effect on the politics and economy of the protagonist's universe or the role of the spirit guides. Unfortunately, we never really get a coherent view of any of the institutional players' abilities or goals. Meanwhile, the protagonist spends a lot of time holding a planet-sized idiot ball to keep things moving briskly.

Particular nitpicky points of frustration for me include (view spoiler) ...more

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Nov 03, 2014 CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: american, black, feminism, fiction, east-asian, lesbian, bisexual, queer, reading-in-colour, science-fiction

There were parts of this novel that I loved and thought were great; there are also parts that, well, needed some work--typical of first novels, in many ways.

What I liked:
- the writing was really lovely and sharp in parts, like "I moved my new clothes around to try to get comfortable in them, but it was a bit like using a broom to sweep up all the sand on the beach." I also especially liked how Koyanagi described Alana's feelings for ships, like they're beautiful women who might become her lover There were parts of this novel that I loved and thought were great; there are also parts that, well, needed some work--typical of first novels, in many ways.

What I liked:
- the writing was really lovely and sharp in parts, like "I moved my new clothes around to try to get comfortable in them, but it was a bit like using a broom to sweep up all the sand on the beach." I also especially liked how Koyanagi described Alana's feelings for ships, like they're beautiful women who might become her lovers
- the cast of this novel is really diverse, but there's no tokenism and the characters are mostly well fleshed out. I don't think I've ever read a book with a black, chronically ill, lesbian main character and supporting characters all other shades of the rainbow (bisexual, Latina, black, disabled, and even a man who's kind of half human half dog). Almost all of the characters are women--something I read another reviewer complaining about. There are SO MANY books--sci fi and others--that feature all male casts and this novel is an awesome counterpoint to that. THIS NEEDS NO EXPLANATION.
-some amazing imaginative work here: I especially loved the description of the planet Adul and the mysterious floating beings who inhabit it and communicate in waves of colour; the twist at the end revealing the relationship between the ship and her pilot; the career of being a "spirit guide" who works with energy to transform reality

What needs work:
- plotting and details: there are some holes here that get in the way of suspending your belief in the story (like, why does Birke have to destory Adul? What exactly does the Tangled Axon do in space? You can't just have a ship floating around for no reason!)
- pacing, which is fairly uneven, quite slow going well into the middle and then rushed near the end, making it feel kind of anti-climatic
- world building needs some vamping--not a lot, but just some more support for the reader constructing the world
- the introduction of polyamory into the plot and the time Alana spent thinking about it felt pretty pedantic to me--I'm reading fiction and I don't want to be interrupted for a political treatise about how great polyamory is (as much as I support people who are poly)

All in all, I'm quite interested to see what Koyanagi writes next! ...more

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Jun 01, 2017 Marianne (Boricuan Bookworms) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-diverse, black-rep, cover-love, diversity, diversity-bingo-2017, f-f, family, i-loved-it-but-it-has-problems, in-library, latinx-rep

I'm really conflicted with Ascension . On the one hand, I loved the diversity and how it felt like Firefly .

I loved that Alanna was smart and strong. She was a queer black woman with chronic pain. She was a gifted mechanic. She was also poor, which made it easy for me to connect with her daily struggles.

Like I said above, I also loved the Firefly vibe that I got from the crew and the situation: they're criminals on a beat down ship on the run. I loved the idea of a "found" family. The crew I'm really conflicted with Ascension . On the one hand, I loved the diversity and how it felt like Firefly .

I loved that Alanna was smart and strong. She was a queer black woman with chronic pain. She was a gifted mechanic. She was also poor, which made it easy for me to connect with her daily struggles.

Like I said above, I also loved the Firefly vibe that I got from the crew and the situation: they're criminals on a beat down ship on the run. I loved the idea of a "found" family. The crew is really a tight knit group, and spoiler, (but not really) they're polyamorous. They all love each other in different ways and it's nice to see how close they are. I also really enjoyed that Nova, Alanna's sister also joins the adventure with them and we see her conflicted relationship with Alanna and how they both navigate that together.

However, some things stood out to me as iffy or maybe even problematic?

First of all, how Alanna's relationship with the crew starts. She first joins them as a stowaway, and it's obvious there's going to be some mistrust. But I didn't enjoy how she was treated. She was held hostage by the ship's captain. The captain then proceeds to electrocute Alanna, has Slip (the doctor of the crew) inject Alanna with a substance that she tells her is going to make her chronic pain worse until she dies, and overall just manipulates her emotions to get what she wants. We're told that the captain has her motives, but honestly? This is just abusive behavior and it rubbed me the wrong way. Not to mention several other times where she's poked and prodded without consent with is just several shades of messy.

I was really also very confused throughout the story because I thought from the beginning that we were going to find out the crew was polygamous, but, we don't find out until almost the end, when the captain could've told Alanna at any time so their relationship could've proceeded without problem.

The last thing that was the representation of Ovie, another mechanic from the ship. Ovie is a black man and throughout the whole book he's always described as some kind of wolf-man. It felt weird to me that he would be described or be given actions like "growled" or "snarled" or whatever, because it felt like he, the only black man, was being described as some sort of animal? At the end it's explained to us that (view spoiler) but I don't know, I felt weird.

However, I know the book has really good chronic pain rep, because ownvoices reviewers have expressed how well represented they felt. The author herself is ownvoices for chronic pain and polyamory, so I don't doubt it's good representation.

Overall, the book definitely got me out of a book slump, but I wonder if all these different misgivings could've been handled better so the book could've been a hit. The ending was beautiful and I really connected with the writing, but yeah, I can't look past the problems I found.

Overall from me, this gets 3.5 stars.
...more

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Aug 27, 2013 Tudor Ciocarlie rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2013-my-best-of, hugo-2014

In a genre full of perfect white heterosexual men, this book is a breath of fresh air. Because of her love for ships, stars and space, I've identified better with Alana, a queer woman of color with a disability, than with all the male characters in genre novels this year.

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Apr 06, 2018 autumn added it · review of another edition

Shelves: disabled-ch, lgbt-ch, ch-of-color, author-of-color

this was pretty cool! pretty writing, interesting magic system (a really nice melding of sci fi+fantasy), nicely written characters + relationships (not to mention the representation - half the cast are poc+gay/bi and the main character is disabled! the entire crew of the spaceship are in a polyamorous relationship which is tres cute)

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Jul 18, 2015 Sadie Forsythe rated it it was ok

Oh man, this book disappointed me so hard. When I first heard of it, I thought, "Lesbian POC as a main character? Hell yeah." Then someone referred to it as a lesbian Firefly and I ordered it the same day. Man, what a let down.

★Let's start with the writing, it's obscured, full of phrases like this: "His voice eventually tore in half, and he was quiet." What the hell does that mean? It meanders. It repeats itself. It's too flowery to be functional.

★Then there is the sex, which relates to the ob Oh man, this book disappointed me so hard. When I first heard of it, I thought, "Lesbian POC as a main character? Hell yeah." Then someone referred to it as a lesbian Firefly and I ordered it the same day. Man, what a let down.

★Let's start with the writing, it's obscured, full of phrases like this: "His voice eventually tore in half, and he was quiet." What the hell does that mean? It meanders. It repeats itself. It's too flowery to be functional.

★Then there is the sex, which relates to the obscure writing. It was (I think purposefully) vague about what went where, such that phrases like "she slipped into her" felt very P-in-V. Surely, in that example it was meant to be a finger or some such, but lacking that information it resulted in the most hetero-feeling lesbian sex scene I've ever read.

★Then there is the romantic angst. My god, it drug out FOREVER because the MC would neither ask for clarification nor allow anyone to explain it to her. It was drawn out far beyond what could feel natural.

★Then there is the main character. I simply didn't like her. She was reckless and a little TSTL. She created problems everywhere she went doing stupid things. And no one ever called her on it.

★There is almost no world building. Info bombs are dropped and never explained. For example, ships are referred to as alive but it's never explained what that means or in what manner (and that's far before the final reveal). There is no known political system. The science is basically hand waving.

★Outside the main character, there is no character development (and only a little for the MC). You don't get to know anyone in any depth.

★The finale came out of left field and didn't feel tied to the rest of the plot at all. And true, even considering the book basically just wonders around almost aimlessly in general.

★But worst of all, the book was bloody boring. There is so much internal angst and philosophical nonsense that my attention started to drift. This is the only book I have ever read that managed to make the genocidal destruction of an entire planet and research station, including people important to the characters, dull. Honestly, there was nothing.

So basically this book was a fail for me, made even more strongly so by my having such high hopes for it, going in. ...more

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Mar 09, 2014 Jack +Books & Bourbon+ rated it liked it

I picked this one up to help tide me over until the sequel to Rachel Bach's Fortune's Pawn came out. It had a somewhat similar conceit with a dangerous cargo ship taking on a new crew member, so I thought it would fit nicely into the "on sequel pause" niche. And honestly, it did, though not in the way that I expected.

Unlike "Fortune's Pawn", this one is light on the action, and focuses almost entirely on the internal emotions, motivations, and sensations of the main protagonist Alana Quick. The ...more

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Aug 03, 2013 Aelin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2013-books, 5-stars, aliens, disability, gblt, feminism, mental-illness, science-fiction, sf-romance, polyamory

I really loved this book.

A primarily female cast, POC, queer women, polyamory, disability, spirituality, all in an awesome sci fi setting -- what's not to love? I've been looking forward to this book for a long while.

Speaking as somebody who is disabled with not one but two pain conditions, I had a lot of sympathy for Alana. It felt dead on, and all too familiar. I have seen some criticism that nobody would be able to work through that much pain, but frankly, having worked through pain, you lear ...more

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Jun 17, 2013 Tammy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: char-lead-poc, char-sisters, genre-speculative-fiction, _netgalley, char-spoonie, genre-sf-scifi

Alana Quick is a sky surgeon. That's engineer to you and I. And she's that in a world where that career is coming to an end and it's rare a sky surgeon ever gets off the ground. She lives with her Aunt Lai, both of them struggling to make ends meet, and also struggling with a neurological, chronic pain disorder. One day a ship lands at their shipyard looking for Alana's sister Nova, a spirit guide, and, encouraged by the ship's doctor, Alana stows away. The captain and her crew are not happy abo ...more

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Jul 29, 2018 Olga Godim rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy-scifi

Objectively, this is a solid science fiction novel. The world is different. The characters are intriguing. The plot is slow but complex, with several interconnected ideas.
Subjectively, I didn’t like it: neither the world nor the characters. The protagonist Alana is a mechanic, specializing in repairing old space ships. She ekes out a poor existence on the edge of an unimportant city on an unimportant planet, until she stows away on a ship that lands in her repair lot.
I should also mention that Objectively, this is a solid science fiction novel. The world is different. The characters are intriguing. The plot is slow but complex, with several interconnected ideas.
Subjectively, I didn’t like it: neither the world nor the characters. The protagonist Alana is a mechanic, specializing in repairing old space ships. She ekes out a poor existence on the edge of an unimportant city on an unimportant planet, until she stows away on a ship that lands in her repair lot.
I should also mention that Alana is afflicted with a chronic pain disorder – it is paramount to the plot – but she tries to lead as active a life as she can. She wants to feel alive, and her craving for life, her constant celebration of being alive is one of her qualities that I admire without reservations.
Otherwise, I don’t understand her and don’t like her. The crew of the ship she stows away on treats her cruelly. They have their own agenda, and Alana doesn’t fit in with their plans, except as a hostage material. So they starve her, snub her, torture her, say mean things to her, while she wants above all else to belong, to become part of them. She forgives their cruelty and is ready to sacrifice her life for their goal. In her place, I would do the opposite and try to sabotage their mission to repay their nasty treatment of her. I don’t believe in Alana’s bottomless goodness, and that affects my reaction to the entire book.
Another thing that bothers me about this novel: there are no men in it. Every named character except one is a woman, and most of them are lesbians. The rare males are placeholders: the second guard, the officer behind the corner, etc. The one exception to this rule, although a male with a name, is not a man but a werewolf. I don’t believe in this world, the same as I don’t believe in the story’s heroine. This lesbian-dominated world feels too much like the author’s statement, a message she tries to push. It seems to me she wrote this story for herself, to express her opinions, not for me to enjoy reading it, and that turns me off.
The writing confirms that impression. The book is written as a series of Alana’s inner monologues, all of them long and winding, all a weird blend of poetry and philosophy, with short scenes and dialogues in between. There is too much inner contemplation, pages upon pages of her feelings and thoughts, while the same things could be said in a couple of short sentences. The endless verbose passages slowed down the action and irritated me. Eventually, I started skipping those pages, eager to find out what happened next in the story.
I finished the book, and although I can’t say that it is a bad book, I can say that I’m not going to read more of this author. She is not for me.
...more

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Jul 30, 2013 Mary K. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: to-die-for-language

ASCENSION is a novel that beautifully takes the reader on a journey through the coveted Big Quiet (that’s space in layman’s terms) and, dare I say, beyond. Alana Quick is a sky surgeon (a space ship engineer, basically) in a time when many of the manual labor positions are being bought out by the big corporate group, Transliminal. Unfortunately, they have the market cornered because, just like themselves, the technology they’re pushing is from a different universe entirely, leaving sky surgeons ASCENSION is a novel that beautifully takes the reader on a journey through the coveted Big Quiet (that’s space in layman’s terms) and, dare I say, beyond. Alana Quick is a sky surgeon (a space ship engineer, basically) in a time when many of the manual labor positions are being bought out by the big corporate group, Transliminal. Unfortunately, they have the market cornered because, just like themselves, the technology they’re pushing is from a different universe entirely, leaving sky surgeons in the dark and out of jobs. So, desperate for a job and without many prospects, Alana stows onto the Tangled Axon (after a little bit of a push, actually), and sets off into the atmosphere.

Admittedly (and probably obviously after that first bit), I’m not a regular reviewer of book, but here’s what made me fall in love with ASCENSION:

• Coming from a mostly YA background, I wasn’t sure how easily I’d be able to fall into step with a sci-fi space epic, but Alana’s narration offers a distinct voice that flows across the page. I’ve seen some reviews say it gets to be too preachy, but you have to remember that these are a character’s thoughts on the page, and she’s coming into herself at that. Alana is a woman who has a specific view of things, which was something I loved about her.

• We may not know much about the overall system that Alana lives in, but what is described is done so exquisitely. For example, Adul and the Adulans; the planet and its inhabitants ended up being one of my favorite things about ASCENSION. The language used to describe both have stuck with me days after finishing the novel, and when I think of Adul I still get a little hungry for cake.

On top of Adul, there’s Spin and its nightclubs whose bass I swore I could feel while I read, the chiming leaves on the trees outside of Transliminal HQ that I can still picture so clearly in my mind, the overwhelming vastness of the Big Quiet that can make send even seasoned sky surgeons reeling, and so much more. Would have been nice to know a little more about the places that weren’t yet explored? Of course. I’d be stupid to say no to that because of how much I love Koyanagi’s poetic descriptions, but ASCENSION did a good job of painting the picture of what it needed to show, and I, personally, am glad that the novel didn’t get bogged down with the unnecessary.

• Perhaps this is a really small and obscure thing to love, but I appreciated that the Nulan system had its own terms for things. For example: the “Big Quiet” for space, “sky surgeon” for engineers, and “otherworlders” for those from Transliminal. I thought it added a nice touch.

• Alana and Nova’s relationship. They’re one of the best-written sibling pairs I’ve read in a long time, and I’d read ASCENSION all over again just to experience their journey as sisters again. (Spoilers: I cried the most because of them.) Their relationship is definitely my favorite in ASCENSION because they made me feel the most, and what a wide variety of feelings it was. All in the best way, I assure you!

• The way Alana handled her disease. Alana’s Mel’s is somewhat of a character in and of itself in ASCENSION, as it constantly hounds Alana and is the catalyst for a lot of growth for her. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but Alana’s disease is where a lot of her strength is borne and where she shows a lot of bravery. In a way, it’s like a regenerative dragon for a knight—a trial that must be overcome, and overcome, and overcome. And the fact that she succumbs to it on more than one occasion proves just how human Alana is: she’s not a superhero or a super-human; the pain is very real and debilitating for her at times. However, at others, she proves that she can be strong by standing up to the disease.

I saw that someone said that Koyanagi must not have ever dealt with something similar, so I’ll be forthcoming here: I have, and being someone who has to constantly deal with something similar, I found it very realistic and related to Alana’s struggles a little too much sometimes. More than once I’ve told myself what she did about pain just to get through a day of work, so it was refreshing (and a little therapeutic, honestly) to see ASCENSION tackle such an issue.

Of course, everyone has their own experience with pain and their own way of dealing with it. I fully recognize this and understand that others may not see it the same way. Like Alana I feel that pain is an issue of mind over matter, and I personally feel that once you start thinking that way, your pain tolerance shoots up and up. I’m very grateful that Koyanagi dealt with the disease in a way that related so intimately to me.

Overall, ASCENSION was a giant check in the “WIN” column for me. Not only was Alana an excellent female lead, but the whole crew of the Axon was wonderful. I really hope we’re able to see Alana, Tev, Helen, Ovie, and Marre again.

When we do, the only things I’d say I want more of are character descriptions (that fall more on par with the surroundings) and character development. I want to be able to dissect more of the characters and know what makes them tick. So far I feel as if I know Alana and Nova the way I wish to, and Tev is nearly there, but the glimpses I got of Helen, Ovie, and Marre make me hungry for more. The current lack is my only very minor drawback of ASCENSION, and there’s so much that makes up for it.

Ultimately, I’m so excited to read more from Koyanagi. I know ASCENSION isn’t even out in paperback yet (which I’ll be purchasing so I can put that gorgeous cover on my bookshelf) but I already want more. Alas, I’ll try to be a patient fan. :) ...more

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Aug 21, 2013 Mikel rated it really liked it

Review also here at: wp.me/p2s3sT-A3

Jacqueline Koyanagi’s debut novel, Ascension, is beginning to generate a small amount of buzz, but it deserves much more attention. The hard Science Fiction world she’s developing, and the characters she’s created, are fresh and sharp. There’s a definite sense here of a writer who’s not afraid to think in grand strokes. If you’re going to announce your presence in a room as contentious as the SFF world can be, particularly these days, you’d be hard pressed to Review also here at: wp.me/p2s3sT-A3

Jacqueline Koyanagi’s debut novel, Ascension, is beginning to generate a small amount of buzz, but it deserves much more attention. The hard Science Fiction world she’s developing, and the characters she’s created, are fresh and sharp. There’s a definite sense here of a writer who’s not afraid to think in grand strokes. If you’re going to announce your presence in a room as contentious as the SFF world can be, particularly these days, you’d be hard pressed to find someone taking as bold a step forward.

Alana Quick is employed as a space surgeon, but she’s never actually gotten the opportunity to get off-planet and into space. She loves working on the ships reaching deeper into the universe, and near desperate for a chance to get work up in the Big Quiet. She’s a classic gearhead, sometimes more drawn to tech than people, and adept at teasing out maximum performance from the ships she works on. Her desperation for more work is pushed harder by Mel’s Disorder, a chronic condition that makes pain management a major part of her daily life. When the Tangled Axon arrives, looking for her sister Nova, Alana sees an opportunity to get off-planet. She stows away, starting her relationship with the ship’s crew on the worst possible footing.

A significant strength of the story is in the way she presents the character’s relationships, and particularly Alana’s with her sister. Nova’s an in-demand spirit guide, which gives her enough wealth and power to make things very tense between her and the barely scraping by Alana. All the interactions between characters are where this story truly shines, as Koyanagi fills her book with rich, complicated people. The buzz I referred to earlier is around the diversity and complexity of her cast. How believable the characters are in their actions and behavior is a significant determinant of whether you as a reader embrace them, and Jacqueline Koyanagi is fantastic at filling in the emotional details of her characters. She creates three-dimensional people you’re eager to learn more about, but insists you do so on their terms. If there’s a key to her perspective, It’s in a discussion of the Tangled Axon’s current engineer, Ovie. In speaking about him, one character says, “People don’t exist for us to get.” The diverse background of her characters are an integral part of who they are, and how they interact. We’re invited to learn about them on their terms, rather than being presented worn-out tropes dressed in different clothes. She’s not just taking the standard Cis White Male Hero and swapping him with a Gender Queer WoC. Alana’s actions and choices are derived from the complexity of who she is, rather than being a boilerplate Sci-Fi hero fused on a unique frame.

The only small marks against Ascension for me were in pacing and detail. Koyanagi has a very visually descriptive style of writing, which frequently meant vivid descriptions of the strange tech and aliens encountered. This established rich contours to the world she created, but slowed the book down in the process. It also means, as a reader, there are more opportunities to see the seams of the reality she’s stitching together. Having said that, I do applaud her going big right out of the gate like this. I love when creators, regardless of their medium, swing for the fences rather than playing it safe. In general, creating a complex universe from the ground up often has areas one can nitpick, so the fuzziness doesn’t lessen my estimation there are more surprises yet to come from Jacqueline Koyanagi. Ascension is a strong debut, and I’m eager to see where she goes from here. ...more

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