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mal_eficent's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I enjoy both McCaffrey and Moon separately, and it was nice to try and spot within the story moments that felt more like one author than the other. While there's nothing specific I can pinpoint, there were chapters and moments that did feel distinct. Book three felt more Moon, while the opening felt very McCaffrey, for example. I wish there was an interview out there with both authors talking about how they wrote the story together and what they added!
One thing that did stand out to me when I started, though, was the mention of speaking Chinese. It's a casual sci-fi staple and makes some sense if we're assuming this civilisation evolved from an Earth where China continued to be massively important to world wide trade...Except what's 'Chinese'? Mandarin? Cantonese? Hunanese? Chances are they meant Mandarin, but the lack of even bothering to check the name of a real life language shows how simply the book treats cultures. It's not egregious, and there are moments later on that have more depth...but it's noticeable.
Graphic: Xenophobia, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexism, Death, Child death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Violence and Grief
Minor: Religious bigotry and Torture
roytoo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
wunder's review against another edition
1.0
Don't blame Elizabeth Moon, because her military fiction is much, much better than this.
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The worldbuilding is immersive in several different settings throughout different stages of Sassinak’s life, from her capture and enslavement in childhood, to her Fleet training, to various shipboard positions throughout her early adulthood and middle age. Technically this is the first book, but it can also be read after its prequel/sequel THE DEATH OF SLEEP.
The narrative skips over years at a time, filling in bits of backstory as necessary rather than trying to tell all the twists and turns of Sassinak’s career in the Fleet. This keeps the pacing tight, as each section forms a discreet narrative. The later ones benefit from Sass’s increased knowledge and expertise, but most of the secondary characters are swapped out for new ones since first they’re her fellow slaves, then Fleet students, then crew-mates on successive vessels. That military structure means she has different people in similar official roles around her, forming closer friendships with a few of them.
Most of the difficulties revolve around saboteurs trying to use existing prejudices against heavyworlders to deflect suspicions from whomever the actual malicious agents may be. There’s at least one firefight with pirates, which is pretty exciting. The political tensions writ large exacerbate petty tensions between individuals in a way that feels realistic.
The ending is specifically a “to-be-continued” situation, where the sequel is a kind of prequel which explains how Lunzie and some others ended up in cold sleep for decades, and then the third book is about Lunzie and Sass going after planet pirates as an institution. That’s what seems to be promised based on SASSINAK’s cliffhanger ending and the other books’ blurbs, but I’ll find out for certain when I get to them. I enjoyed this and plan to read the rest of the trilogy.
Graphic: Death, Slavery, Grief, and Child death
Moderate: Bullying, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Blood, Gun violence, Murder, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Gore, Violence, Child abuse, and Vomit
Minor: Sexual content, Ableism, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Suicide, Torture, and Animal death
mistressop's review against another edition
3.0
It's just kinda hard to say more without spoiling the book. But it's one of those books waiting to be a book 300 pages of shit i didnt need to know.. then 100 pages of kinda interesting
mobats's review against another edition
4.0
hissingpotatoes's review against another edition
3.5
serena_dawn's review against another edition
2.0
As it is, my feelings were "meh".
bookcrazylady45's review against another edition
4.0
thebookewyrme's review against another edition
4.0