From the Bookshelf of SOS: Serious Overload of Series…

I used to read a lot more of it, but I have been in the UF cycle for a couple years now, and so it has been awhile. It was a refreshing change of pace to get back to some smart, well-built sci-fi. An awful lot of UF and YA

I used to read a lot more of it, but I have been in the UF cycle for a couple years now, and so it has been awhile. It was a refreshing change of pace to get back to some smart, well-built sci-fi. An awful lot of UF and YA seems to have a similar structure, so this felt even more brand-new by comparison, I think.

Aguirre created a huge and well-developed world. I really immerse in my stories (let's just say that my imagination likes to play out in IMAX 3D), and I could see it all. Particularly in this book, with all the news bulletins intercutting the story, I really loved the feel of this complicated, interconnected universe.

In each book, we seem to have had a couple of them get featured particularly, and it has been a wonderful way to round out the secondary characters in this series. This book really featured Vel, and, as a surprise, Constance, who I think is becoming so much more than she seems. At points, it brought memories of Enders Game to me (with the development of his AI into a friend that was something more than just an AI), and I really enjoyed it. I am excited to see where Constance goes. And Vel as well. What a fantastic turn for this character to take - from the bounty hunter tracking her in the first book, to one of her closest, most loyal friends. Vel is a tragic hero in his own right, and I find him to be incredibly endearing.

I have honestly disliked her from the instant she was introduced. Spoiled, beautiful, whiny princess, who is remarkably gifted at, apparently, everything she tries her hand at. Has the affection of a character we respect very much (that would be March), for no reason that I can fathom. We have actually never seen her do a single praise-worthy thing. In the first book, she blames Jax for all the failures of her own family's ill-advised scheming (and Jax just takes it, something that's really becoming a pet peeve of mine in these ass-kicking heroine books... more on that later). And in this book, we see the devastation she has wrought on March, a man we are led to believe she loves. She used him utterly, left him broken, and then didn't lift a single chi-master finger to help fix what she shattered. She disgusts me. She is utterly self-absorbed, and we need to either see her pay some karmic debt in these coming books, or we need to just never hear from her again. Because I swear to all the gods of publishing, if she "calls on" March again, and he goes, I am putting this series down and never picking it up again. That debt is paid. If he owes anyone now, it is Jax. Certainly not Keri.

I guess I just don't buy it. I talked about that a little in my status updates, but... it feels out of character. Since we met him in book 2, he has been humanized by Jax. He was an outsider, a stray, and he became one of Jax's. And we saw him appreciate it. We saw him throw himself into situations he could have avoided, if he didn't honestly want to prevent harm to the crew. I saw trouble coming from Jael, but I honestly thought it was going to come from his affection for Jax. Aguirre laid down a foundation for it - Jael clearly was developing feelings for her that were something more. And he had begun to interfere in her relationship with March, begun to try and take March's place. So if Jael's betrayal was tied to Jax's reconcile / fixing of March, I would buy it. But that he would betray her for money... no. It is out of character for him. And I am hoping we see more of him later in the series, get more of the story. I don't imagine he will be held in the mines for long.

I swear, as a reader, I was suffering withdrawl pains with her. But since the last quarter of the first book, she has only jumped ONE SINGLE TIME. Yes, in 2+ books, one jump. We have had memories of other jumps. Doesn't count. In stories, we are following around a hero that is gifted in some way. It is a given: the hero/heroine always has a Gift. Ours never uses hers. Granted, her Gift has a backlash effect. But that element of danger only makes it more interesting. And Aguirre has developed the Gift even further - we are led to believe that, of the very few people that have access to this same Gift, our heroine is perhaps the Most Gifted among them. That she is particularly special, in ways that we are only beginning to understand. The Gift can't break her mind, like it does with others. It will still have a backlash effect, but it will manifest differently, and, we are told, can likely be controllable. Further, given that Grimspace is tied into her DNA from her conception, it seems likely that her Gift is going to unfold into something more, that we can't see yet.

But she never uses it! Jax gets through by the virtue of her personality. And while that isn't terrible, it devalues the Gift. Is it even necessary? Is it pointless? How does it impact her lift, her story? Thus far... not at all. So... what is going on here?

Okay, that's not EXACTLY correct. And Jax isn't there YET. But she has tendencies that are setting off alarm bells for me. Firstly, I greatly dislike it when we have a plucky, no holds barred heroine who allows other people to treat her like dirt. There are a couple series where this has REALLY pissed me off lately, and it feels like it is becoming a theme... and as a result, I guess this is becoming a new pet peeve. It is a fine line. I want my heroine to be sensitive. I don't want her to be callous, happily trampling people and leaving corpses / smoking ruins in her wake. She can take criticism. If it is a first person story, we can see her stewing over criticism. But when someone gets in her face and blames her for a great big pile of shit that isn't 100% her fault (I'm looking at you, Keri. Also you, Dina. And a few other too.), I expect her to defend herself. Throw THEIR mistakes back in THEIR faces. When you develop a balls-out, brutally honest, speaks-before-she-thinks heroine, having her react like a kicked puppy when she is unfairly criticized really ticks me off. You are supposed to be a fighter! Defend your damn self! I feel like the authors are being uncreative, stumped by trying to portray a compassionate yet aggressive heroine. Well let me tell you, you can do it without giving them a martyr complex. Every error isn't THEIR error. I am just tired of this personality type. It isn't self-sacrificing. It is more like an utter lack of self-respect.