Scan barcode
lowlandsbeach's review against another edition
4.0
wonderfully vividly drawn characters. Female characters front and centre. family dynamics very absorbing in first 75 percent becoming less seemingly authentic towards end. ending a bit too neat for my liking. Sometimes a bit too episodic. Chapters alternate between eldest brother and sister narrators sometimes was irritating. the character Shey was annoying, Shey might have been a more interesting character if she had betrayed the family. 7.5 out of ten rounded up to 4 stars. The book deserves a more attractive or individually eye catching cover, to attract readers to the adventures of a family of criminals over a system of 5 unique planets,. One icy, one barren,one watery, one jungle.,.with inhabitants displaying different cultures/traits associated with their planets environment..
sonofthunder's review
3.0
A quick-paced, action packed space opera here! This is a pretty recently written book and I enjoyed it for the most part. The world-building was very fascinating and I loved slowly discovering the origin of the system of planets that makes up the stage of this tale. The author does a great job of slowly unveiling the history and characteristics of the various planets and I really appreciated the obvious effort she put in creating these worlds and these characters. And the characters! The Kaiser family (Corvus, Scorpia, Lyre, Andromeda, Apollo) is beautifully drawn and pretty soon into the book, you know exactly who is who and what they're like. The characters are distinct and have their own voices, and though at first they may seem a bit one-note, they are slowly revealed to have layers and depth of personality. The writing is a bit broad (but part of that is the affect of reading Scorpia's POV...as she is a rather broad character herself!) I guess that may be my one complaint - the prose, while functional, isn't exactly top-level. And the profanity. Oh boy is there a lot of it. Yes, I suppose it may be realistic (no reason for a smuggler family to be polite in their language!) but it does grate after a while. I did push through though, mainly because the plot was so engaging and I was curious to see how the author resolved some fairly serious dilemmas that were faced by the main characters! There's tragedy in this tale and I appreciate that it's not quickly resolved and swept under the rug. Corvus having to deal with what happened on Titan was very believable. Less believable was how quickly Corvus and Scorpia reconnected, but I was so happy when the family finally, finally started working together near the end of this book! Even Drom came through! Scorpia is such a mess of a character and one that I probably would have a lot of trouble with if she was my friend in real life...but she is very vivid and most well-drawn. All in all, I enjoyed this as a quick read. Great worldbuilding and good characters. I'm not a fan of the writing style, but admittedly first-person is very challenging to do well. I rarely enjoy reading it though. Still, all in all, a good read and I am interested enough in the story I want to read the second book now!
rhubbard's review
3.0
Somewhere between 3 and 4 tbh idk what my rating system is. Good but not great
scifi_rat's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
chaylattes's review
adventurous
dark
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Death, War, Alcoholism, and Genocide
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
Minor: Abandonment and Sexual content
sixofravensreads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
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? Yes
5.0
squeegybeckinheim's review against another edition
4.0
SPACE SMUGGLERS. That should say it all, really. Fortuna was a fun space romp to read. I really appreciate Kristyn Merbeth writing characters that are bi/pansexual and non-binary, and doing so without it feeling contrived or a focus of the character. I thought it was executed well. Scorpia is definitely rough around the edges, but that is part of her appeal. I also like Drom and Corvus.I'm not sure where the author plans to go from here exactly, but I do hope we get to read from the POVs of Lyre and/or the twins. There is enough open-ended material that didn't feel forced to continue the series. Much gratitude to Orbit for the opportunity to review Fortuna.
teaxmillions's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this one for the characters, especially Scorpia. Was it the best thing I've ever read? No, but it was fun, entertaining, and sometimes that's enough for a book. That, and sometimes it's refreshing to have a book that's got an alcoholic bisexual pilot smuggler as a main character. I'll be continuing this series!
joeydell4's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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? Yes
1.75
diane's review against another edition
4.0
Had a hard time getting into this, because the characters were basically unpleasant. Eventually it got going and all the threads came together in a really satisfying way.