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kody's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I read this for an upcoming book club! It was labeled as "LGBT" and "space western" and I was immediately sold. This novel explored some interesting themes and had unique world building, but it did not quite live up to my expectations.
The narrator, Ten Low, is a former prisoner on a desert planet with the sole life mission of atoning for what she did during the war. She stumbled across a downed spaceship in the first pages and rescues a child soldier. From there, she travels through the darkest and most dangerous parts of the planet and builds a ragtag cast of characters to protect both the child and herself. All the while, a mysterious supernatural force follows (or maybe guides?) her company and she is forced to confront moral dilemmas from her past and present.
This book is packed with exciting action sequences and dangerous situations. I found myself invested in what happened next and dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of this far flung society. I also enjoyed the exploration of the different ways of life in all those relegated to the farthest reaches of space. Holborn clearly had fun conceptualizing how people would live on a forgotten desert planet at the very edge of human society.
That said, this book over-promised on sci-fi themes and under-delivered on character building. From the get-go, I expected interstellar travel and spacefaring. Unfortunately, the characters never made it off their planet. Additionally, the cast of characters was large and diverse, but only Ten Low had enough characterization for me to truly care what happened to her. In fact, Holborn successfully delivered her a twisting and turning backstory with fulfilling arcs and revelations. For the other characters, there were some incredibly compelling backgrounds, and I wish there had been more opportunity to get to know how that influenced the characters and their motivations.
Overall, this story was a fun and fast-paced adventure that captured and sustained my interest from the very first chapter. I would recommend to a friend looking for an action-focused sci-fi adventure.
The narrator, Ten Low, is a former prisoner on a desert planet with the sole life mission of atoning for what she did during the war. She stumbled across a downed spaceship in the first pages and rescues a child soldier. From there, she travels through the darkest and most dangerous parts of the planet and builds a ragtag cast of characters to protect both the child and herself. All the while, a mysterious supernatural force follows (or maybe guides?) her company and she is forced to confront moral dilemmas from her past and present.
This book is packed with exciting action sequences and dangerous situations. I found myself invested in what happened next and dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of this far flung society. I also enjoyed the exploration of the different ways of life in all those relegated to the farthest reaches of space. Holborn clearly had fun conceptualizing how people would live on a forgotten desert planet at the very edge of human society.
That said, this book over-promised on sci-fi themes and under-delivered on character building. From the get-go, I expected interstellar travel and spacefaring. Unfortunately, the characters never made it off their planet. Additionally, the cast of characters was large and diverse, but only Ten Low had enough characterization for me to truly care what happened to her. In fact, Holborn successfully delivered her a twisting and turning backstory with fulfilling arcs and revelations. For the other characters, there were some incredibly compelling backgrounds, and I wish there had been more opportunity to get to know how that influenced the characters and their motivations.
Overall, this story was a fun and fast-paced adventure that captured and sustained my interest from the very first chapter. I would recommend to a friend looking for an action-focused sci-fi adventure.
maxmaxmaxo's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
houdini117's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
effie_joe_stock's review
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Oh 😭🫶🏻 before 2023, I'd almost come to the point of giving up on scifi. But it's been books like this that have rekindled my love and excitement for this genre.
Things I loved:
💛the characters
💛the worldbuilding
💛the diversity
💛the setting
💛OMG THE PLOT TWISTS
💛the ending that had me TEARING UP
💛incredible female characters that weren't overly masculine or feminine but instead just EXISTED and kicked ass and cried
💛the relationships
Things I didn't like:
Absolutely nothing.
I cant wait to re-read this book and obtain the sequel. I'm thoroughly in love with this book and it's one of my new all-time fav scifis.
Don't stop, go read this rn
Things I loved:
💛the characters
💛the worldbuilding
💛the diversity
💛the setting
💛OMG THE PLOT TWISTS
💛the ending that had me TEARING UP
💛incredible female characters that weren't overly masculine or feminine but instead just EXISTED and kicked ass and cried
💛the relationships
Things I didn't like:
Absolutely nothing.
I cant wait to re-read this book and obtain the sequel. I'm thoroughly in love with this book and it's one of my new all-time fav scifis.
Don't stop, go read this rn
toniherrero's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
Deu Ras és una meravellosa barreja entre western i ciència-ficció, una mica com ho era la sèrie de TV Firefly. La Deu Ras, una exmilitar i exconvicta, malviu a Factus, una llunyana lluna als confins de l'espai. La seva existència, malgrat que dura, és més o menys tranquil·la fins que es creua amb una misteriosa jove, la Gabriella Ortiz, que posarà fi a la seva monotonia. Amb ella creuarà la lluna buscant respostes i fugint d'un bon grapat d'enemics.
Hi trobem aquí els millors elements del western —persecucions a cavall i assalts a trens—, però tot passat pel sedàs ci-fi. A més d'enemics humans, la Deu Ras també haurà de fer front a uns altres éssers misteriosos, de manera que el seu viatge es converteix en una fugida constant i trepidant que atrapa al lector de manera molt efectiva fins al final.
La història tanca un arc argumental, però clarament n'obre un altre, que és el que l'autora britànica Stark Holborn desenvoluparà a Hel's Eight. Moltes ganes de llegir aquesta segona part (i les que vinguin)!
Hi trobem aquí els millors elements del western —persecucions a cavall i assalts a trens—, però tot passat pel sedàs ci-fi. A més d'enemics humans, la Deu Ras també haurà de fer front a uns altres éssers misteriosos, de manera que el seu viatge es converteix en una fugida constant i trepidant que atrapa al lector de manera molt efectiva fins al final.
La història tanca un arc argumental, però clarament n'obre un altre, que és el que l'autora britànica Stark Holborn desenvoluparà a Hel's Eight. Moltes ganes de llegir aquesta segona part (i les que vinguin)!
brian9teen's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
joey_schafer's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
zare_i's review
4.0
Well this was quite a ride. Set in the the future where humans have colonized the space we follow our hero, named Ten Low, as she struggles to save lives on the prison planet.... strike that, remote frontier moon, with very bad climate (deserts all over), some colonials but mostly people trying to hide from their past (large number are former convicts, Ten Low included), government that is not interested in this moon except for having it marked as territory and whole bunch of roaming bands, some more crazy than others (imagine more technically savvy but equal brutal gangs from Mad Max) that follow their own rules, live in their own worlds and see everyone else as prey.
Ten Low is trying to redeem herself from the latest intergalactic war where she played important but ... lets say, bad (?!) role and caused lots of casualties. Now she tries to save lives so she can live with herself. She witnesses a starship falling down and manages to save the sole surviving passenger. This act of kindness will bring her into problems she could not even fathom and throw her into the events related to the mystery of the remote wasteland parts of the moon. I wont go more into the details because of the spoilers but story is very fast, with lots of action and characters that get good exposition. I have a feeling that sequel might be in the making but even if not book ends up in the only way possible.
This is not a feel-good book, people die (some in a very gruesome way), and to the very end you are not sure who is going to end up dead. It is a very humorless and deadly universe here, where victor of the war shows absolutely no mercy to the defeated party - it makes you think how they plan to normalize the life after what seems to be the conflict that ran for decades. Nobody trusts anybody and at the first opportunity everyone gets betrayed by somebody around them.
Few things did not sit well with me. First, I guess to be inline with modern times there is a part of the book that treats the [now absolutely omnipresent] racial issues. You will see the passage, cannot miss it, and for me it was so cringy ..... unbelievable ..... but I guess it goes with ever present goal to be contemporary. Second thing is, I dont know if this was because of editing [or errors during the edit process] but some of the characters would go [for no reason whatsoever] from singular to plural. at first I though it was related to the moon's mystery, like warped view of people and their actions but I do not think so, because in some singular is used, while in others plural is used. Weird. again not a showstopper but can break the concentration.
All in all, excellent SF action adventure. If you are looking for pages and pages of characters, their relations, histories, explanations etc you wont find it here. This is not a thousand plus pages space opera but an old fashioned action adventure, think of it as space western, that will grip you from the start to the end and leave you wanting more.
Recommended.
Ten Low is trying to redeem herself from the latest intergalactic war where she played important but ... lets say, bad (?!) role and caused lots of casualties. Now she tries to save lives so she can live with herself. She witnesses a starship falling down and manages to save the sole surviving passenger. This act of kindness will bring her into problems she could not even fathom and throw her into the events related to the mystery of the remote wasteland parts of the moon. I wont go more into the details because of the spoilers but story is very fast, with lots of action and characters that get good exposition. I have a feeling that sequel might be in the making but even if not book ends up in the only way possible.
This is not a feel-good book, people die (some in a very gruesome way), and to the very end you are not sure who is going to end up dead. It is a very humorless and deadly universe here, where victor of the war shows absolutely no mercy to the defeated party - it makes you think how they plan to normalize the life after what seems to be the conflict that ran for decades. Nobody trusts anybody and at the first opportunity everyone gets betrayed by somebody around them.
Few things did not sit well with me. First, I guess to be inline with modern times there is a part of the book that treats the [now absolutely omnipresent] racial issues. You will see the passage, cannot miss it, and for me it was so cringy ..... unbelievable ..... but I guess it goes with ever present goal to be contemporary. Second thing is, I dont know if this was because of editing [or errors during the edit process] but some of the characters would go [for no reason whatsoever] from singular to plural. at first I though it was related to the moon's mystery, like warped view of people and their actions but I do not think so, because in some singular is used, while in others plural is used. Weird. again not a showstopper but can break the concentration.
All in all, excellent SF action adventure. If you are looking for pages and pages of characters, their relations, histories, explanations etc you wont find it here. This is not a thousand plus pages space opera but an old fashioned action adventure, think of it as space western, that will grip you from the start to the end and leave you wanting more.
Recommended.
markbookmarkbook's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
4.75
illadelphile's review
dark
fast-paced
- 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? Yes
5.0