Bluebird in /r/Fantasy Discussion Group

Feb 21, 2022 Tammy rated it it was amazing

Bluebird was a blast, and I’m so glad I had the chance to read it. According to the publisher’s description, you can expect “Lesbian gunslingers in space!” And yes, you get all of that, but Bluebird is so much more. Ciel Pierlot has written a thrilling adventure complete with spies, thieves, betrayal, secrets, gunfights, and more. Think Star Wars meets Indian Jones with a dash of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, and you’ll have an idea of what to expect. I thought it would be fun to do a “list” r ...more

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Sep 11, 2022 ♥Xeni♥ rated it it was ok

Shelves: adventure, ebook, space, 2022-books-read, revenge

I found this book very difficult to read due to the tense it's written in. I love the idea of the plot, the elements, even the space setting (though I'm generally not a fan it was done well here without being overwhelming), but the way it's written is very off-putting.

To best summarize this book: it's a 90s teen T-shirt with the words "Girl Power" written on it in glittery pink bubble font.

The two main characters feel very superficial and very young, even though they're supposedly jaded and old I found this book very difficult to read due to the tense it's written in. I love the idea of the plot, the elements, even the space setting (though I'm generally not a fan it was done well here without being overwhelming), but the way it's written is very off-putting.

To best summarize this book: it's a 90s teen T-shirt with the words "Girl Power" written on it in glittery pink bubble font.

The two main characters feel very superficial and very young, even though they're supposedly jaded and older. We get to spend most of the page time with these characters and yet they feel just as boring and pretty dumb and very reactionary by the end as in the start. In fact all of the characters are equally dumb, which makes me feel like this might rather be a flaw of the author rather than the protagonists. There's a ton of sexual banter that you usually see in 14 year olds. These characters have Flaws the way DnD character sheets have flaws. Ginka and Rig end up being terrible planners and flying by the seat of their pants, usually resorting to violence (gunslinging) to escape close calls. I admit I do prefer a novel with a more cunning protagonist. I wanted to like these characters (and Ginka probably came closest) but they were just so boring and superficial most of the time.

The plot is quite straight forward and relies heavily on the author to usher it forward (aka coincidence and information coming up just when you need it reign). Usually I find action sequences boring, but they were well written here. Far more than the character moments anyway. I don't feel they were memorable, but they did have a spark of fun here and there. The action / espionage aspects are definitely the highlight of this book.

But the writing style? The writing style really threw me off. The whole book is written in a kind of present tense and makes it feel very tense to me. And not in a good way. I often don't even notice a present tense if the writing is well done (Hunger Games was not the best well written book but it's present tense was well done) but here it was jarring every single sentence over and over again. I can't really put my finger on why. Sometimes it's not enough that a book shows, tells, and shows some more. This one is lacking something else essential and I really missed it.

Also the humor was not at all for me. I like a good bad-pun but this book was rife with just not even great puns. And on top of that most of the "jokes" are sexuality-based and it just did not mesh well with me.

I enjoyed the setting the most of all the elements. I normally don't go for space adventures but this one did a great job of giving us interesting information about each faction, about certain planets or moons we visit, without getting bogged down in the details. I can't exactly picture anything on a planet, so for the most part I rely on the old movie, The Sixth Sense, to color in that aspect. It doesn't work when we're told someone runs across a street (but also they're something miles above the surface of the planet?). So it's not perfect, but it was interesting.

Overall I felt quite disappointed by this book. I really wanted to love it but too many things kept throwing me off and making me want to not finish reading. ...more

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May 11, 2022 Bridgit rated it liked it

This was a fun, somewhat fluffy read. Reminds me a bit of Jessie Mihalik, but without the romance aspect. In this scifi story, space is divided into 3 factions, which are all loosely following different philosophies, but all want to take over the others.

The story centers mostly on 2 women - Rig, who fled from her faction years ago after making some mistakes and has spent the last three years trying to make up for it. She picks up Gingka, who has a murky past, but is an ace shot. As the story un ...more

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Apr 02, 2024 Tyrannosaurus regina rated it really liked it

Shelves: speculative-fiction, science-fiction, lgbtq, space-opera

I think what I loved best about this was the (romantic) relationship, which was both tremendously sweet but also painfully realistic. Although close second were the other relationships and the worldbuilding, which was set up in a way I don't really remember seeing before and felt completely immersive right from the beginning. ...more

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