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joseperth's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
shc's review
3.0
You shouldn't get too carried away with your expectations of a novella, but -- a future with FTL flight where race (the same races as now) and class (the same classes as now) define the characteristics of institutions is a little iffy IMO, and for the plot to celebrate a lower-caste member succeeding by being accepted into a close asssociation with the upper classes, and through the vehicle of the military to boot, has gotten a little tired.
The writing and pacing, though are excellent, characters fully drawn, battle scenes realistic.
SPOILERS
The protagonist is Floribeth S.O. Dalisay,” call-sign "Fire Ant", a young Filipina woman ekeing out a living for her and her family piloting a planetary survey ship for the corrupt and overbearing industrial cartel. She encounters the first aliens ever, they fire torpedoes at her, she survives and escapes through deft piloting, is recruited into the Navy, trained then evventually sent towards another encounter with the aliens where she saves some people through deft piloting, winning the approval of the entire squadron, just like Maverick in Top Gun.
The writing and pacing, though are excellent, characters fully drawn, battle scenes realistic.
SPOILERS
The protagonist is Floribeth S.O. Dalisay,” call-sign "Fire Ant", a young Filipina woman ekeing out a living for her and her family piloting a planetary survey ship for the corrupt and overbearing industrial cartel. She encounters the first aliens ever, they fire torpedoes at her, she survives and escapes through deft piloting, is recruited into the Navy, trained then evventually sent towards another encounter with the aliens where she saves some people through deft piloting, winning the approval of the entire squadron, just like Maverick in Top Gun.
metaphorosis's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews
Summary:
Floribeth, an Off-Planet Worker and pilot, finds something on an ordinary exploratory trip – something big. She barely escapes danger, and finds her whole life transformed.
Review:
This had the distinct feel of an excerpt to it – maybe the middle third of a longer novel. While it’s interesting to see Filipino culture in space – complete with an updated Overseas Employment Administration, there are quickly enough acronyms that they’re hard to keep track of. Still, it’s a solidly developed world, and the characters are credible and engaging.
The story moves fast, and it’s exciting. Some of the motivations are thin, and the lines and tropes are standard military SF, but they’re delivered well, and with enough innovation that it feels fairly fresh. The tenses get sloppy here and there, and the explanations can sometimes be murky.
The story has a clear standalone arc, but there’s no escaping the feel that this is only an introduction – that there are further stories to follow. I hope so, because the larger story has promise, and I’d be interested to read it – ideally in a more complete form
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
Floribeth, an Off-Planet Worker and pilot, finds something on an ordinary exploratory trip – something big. She barely escapes danger, and finds her whole life transformed.
Review:
This had the distinct feel of an excerpt to it – maybe the middle third of a longer novel. While it’s interesting to see Filipino culture in space – complete with an updated Overseas Employment Administration, there are quickly enough acronyms that they’re hard to keep track of. Still, it’s a solidly developed world, and the characters are credible and engaging.
The story moves fast, and it’s exciting. Some of the motivations are thin, and the lines and tropes are standard military SF, but they’re delivered well, and with enough innovation that it feels fairly fresh. The tenses get sloppy here and there, and the explanations can sometimes be murky.
The story has a clear standalone arc, but there’s no escaping the feel that this is only an introduction – that there are further stories to follow. I hope so, because the larger story has promise, and I’d be interested to read it – ideally in a more complete form
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
oleksandr's review against another edition
3.0
This is a SF novella, which was nominated for Nebula 2019 Award
The story follows a female protagonist, Floribeth Salinas O’Shea Dalisay or Beth for short, is a scout/explorer of new solar systems. Faster than light travel (via gates) is commonplace and corporations are searching for suitable systems for mining and habitation. This is done by a fleet of small one-person ships, which are so cheap and Spartan that small pilots are preferred, like our heroine, who is 4’6” (137 cm) and weighed 72 pounds (32.6 kg). The ships are quite a deal: they can reach half light speed and compensate for acceleration (how in this case the size of pilot may matter is beyond me, but it’s author’s universe and his rules).
No alien species have been found so far. This is about to change as Beth appears in a new system and meets and object that sends supposedly torpedoes to her. Only artful maneuvering saves the day. Using of large planets for gravity slings or braking isn’t new in SF, but I doubt I’ll be needed at speeds described – looks that the author liked the idea, but in other books it was done with much slower ships. Beth gets back but no one believes her… I won’t spoiler further
Overall the story has a strong start and interesting descriptions but it goes rapidly downhill to just another mil SF without deep idea behind it.
The story follows a female protagonist, Floribeth Salinas O’Shea Dalisay or Beth for short, is a scout/explorer of new solar systems. Faster than light travel (via gates) is commonplace and corporations are searching for suitable systems for mining and habitation. This is done by a fleet of small one-person ships, which are so cheap and Spartan that small pilots are preferred, like our heroine, who is 4’6” (137 cm) and weighed 72 pounds (32.6 kg). The ships are quite a deal: they can reach half light speed and compensate for acceleration (how in this case the size of pilot may matter is beyond me, but it’s author’s universe and his rules).
No alien species have been found so far. This is about to change as Beth appears in a new system and meets and object that sends supposedly torpedoes to her. Only artful maneuvering saves the day. Using of large planets for gravity slings or braking isn’t new in SF, but I doubt I’ll be needed at speeds described – looks that the author liked the idea, but in other books it was done with much slower ships. Beth gets back but no one believes her… I won’t spoiler further
Overall the story has a strong start and interesting descriptions but it goes rapidly downhill to just another mil SF without deep idea behind it.
barb4ry1's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5
I plan to read all novellas picked as Nebula finalists to satisfy my curiosity. Fire Ant follows a minuscule corporate exploration pilot Floribeth Salinas O’Shea Dalisay (abbreviated to Beth).
She doesn’t love her work, but she needs money and her job pays well. While returning from a profitable mission, she gets attacked by aliens. She barely escapes them, but it’s just a start of her problems.
I liked Beth’s story. It’s simple and straightforward, and it doesn’t redefine the genre. Instead, it presents a relatable and likeable heroine, good team dynamics and exciting actions scenes. With lasers. And spaceships. And stuff.
Frequent infodumps explaining the mechanics of the universe knocked the pacing off the rhythm and, especially at the beginning of the story, we got more telling than showing. Fortunately, Beth has enough charm to make me overlook those minor issues.
A good entertainment, folks.
I plan to read all novellas picked as Nebula finalists to satisfy my curiosity. Fire Ant follows a minuscule corporate exploration pilot Floribeth Salinas O’Shea Dalisay (abbreviated to Beth).
She doesn’t love her work, but she needs money and her job pays well. While returning from a profitable mission, she gets attacked by aliens. She barely escapes them, but it’s just a start of her problems.
I liked Beth’s story. It’s simple and straightforward, and it doesn’t redefine the genre. Instead, it presents a relatable and likeable heroine, good team dynamics and exciting actions scenes. With lasers. And spaceships. And stuff.
Frequent infodumps explaining the mechanics of the universe knocked the pacing off the rhythm and, especially at the beginning of the story, we got more telling than showing. Fortunately, Beth has enough charm to make me overlook those minor issues.
A good entertainment, folks.
jrt5166's review against another edition
1.0
Okay, so here's the thing: I was not in the best mood when I picked up this book, but I thought a Nebula nominated novella would be just the thing to cheer me up. I've read three of the other nominees so far and enjoyed them all. To my surprise, this one was not of their caliber. It wasn't terrible, but the writing felt amateurish and in need of an editor. The protagonist was a character I'd met a million times already, and the plotline itself was pretty basic military SF. There was nothing in the way of character development or larger themes.
So of course, I did some googling to figure out what I was missing that this mediocre novella could find itself on the Nebula shortlist. Was the writer doing something particularly innovative that I had not been clever enough to notice? Nope. Turns out this author is a member of some group called 20Booksto50k that put out a slate trying to game the system. Apparently they hope to prove that indy publishing can produce just as high-quality content as traditional publishing. That may be true for some works, but this book makes the opposite point.
On top of that nonsense, this novella currently holds a 4.25 rating here on Goodreads. Having read it, that struck me as... odd. I did some more digging. I visited the profiles of the first ten reviewers in the default view of the Community Reviews section. A quick look at their rating history showed something unusual - all but one of them gave an average rating of 4.0 or higher to the books they'd read, and eight of the ten averaged above a 4.5 (see below):
324 ratings (4.77 avg)
185 ratings (4.86 avg)
30 ratings (4.83 avg)
212 ratings (4.96 avg)
46 ratings (4.83 avg)
135 ratings (4.57 avg)
3 ratings (4.00 avg)
132 ratings (4.79 avg)
504 ratings (3.81 avg)
7 ratings (5.00 avg)
Even my Dad, who has made a commitment to himself to read only books he has reason to believe are excellent, averages at 3.79. Personally, I'm a bit less discerning in my selections and average about a 3.54. An un-scientific sampling of my friends shows most of us in the mid to high 3s, which is what I would expect. I just can't see how a large group of people could average in the high 4s naturally. Anyone who reads enough books will occasionally pick up things that turn out to be less than awesome.
I can only conclude that in addition to gaming the SFWA nomination system, these authors also artificially inflate each other's ratings with strongly positive bogus reviews. The group appears to be committed to increasing sales, which I understand. We've all got to make a living somehow. Where they lose me is their choice to do so not by striving to hone their craft and increase the quality of their work, but instead by increasing the quantity of self-published projects they put out paired with deceptive advertising tactics.
I don't like being played for a fool, and I don't like having my time wasted.
So of course, I did some googling to figure out what I was missing that this mediocre novella could find itself on the Nebula shortlist. Was the writer doing something particularly innovative that I had not been clever enough to notice? Nope. Turns out this author is a member of some group called 20Booksto50k that put out a slate trying to game the system. Apparently they hope to prove that indy publishing can produce just as high-quality content as traditional publishing. That may be true for some works, but this book makes the opposite point.
On top of that nonsense, this novella currently holds a 4.25 rating here on Goodreads. Having read it, that struck me as... odd. I did some more digging. I visited the profiles of the first ten reviewers in the default view of the Community Reviews section. A quick look at their rating history showed something unusual - all but one of them gave an average rating of 4.0 or higher to the books they'd read, and eight of the ten averaged above a 4.5 (see below):
324 ratings (4.77 avg)
185 ratings (4.86 avg)
30 ratings (4.83 avg)
212 ratings (4.96 avg)
46 ratings (4.83 avg)
135 ratings (4.57 avg)
3 ratings (4.00 avg)
132 ratings (4.79 avg)
504 ratings (3.81 avg)
7 ratings (5.00 avg)
Even my Dad, who has made a commitment to himself to read only books he has reason to believe are excellent, averages at 3.79. Personally, I'm a bit less discerning in my selections and average about a 3.54. An un-scientific sampling of my friends shows most of us in the mid to high 3s, which is what I would expect. I just can't see how a large group of people could average in the high 4s naturally. Anyone who reads enough books will occasionally pick up things that turn out to be less than awesome.
I can only conclude that in addition to gaming the SFWA nomination system, these authors also artificially inflate each other's ratings with strongly positive bogus reviews. The group appears to be committed to increasing sales, which I understand. We've all got to make a living somehow. Where they lose me is their choice to do so not by striving to hone their craft and increase the quality of their work, but instead by increasing the quantity of self-published projects they put out paired with deceptive advertising tactics.
I don't like being played for a fool, and I don't like having my time wasted.
chelsearae's review against another edition
2.0
Fire Ant is both the last of my Nebula Award reads for this year and the least accomplished. It’s readable and there’s nothing glaringly wrong with it, but Fire Ant is your garden-variety military sci-fi tale of a plucky underdog who is selected to join an elite squad and must prove herself to her superiors and to her fellow pilots. Generic and predictable, Fire Ant is the novella equivalent of a popcorn movie; enjoyable enough while you’re reading/watching it (if you don’t think too hard, that is) but difficult to remember as soon as it’s over.
Floribeth “Beth” Dalisay is a member of the Off-Planet Worker underclass who has, by virtue of her 4″6 height, become a pilot for a mega-corporation that sends tiny one-person ships on missions of exploration. On a routine contract to search new solar systems for natural resources and/or habitable planets, Beth encounters a hostile alien presence who begin firing on her. Some fancy flying saves Beth’s life, but when she reports her encounter to the company, they ground her ship and impose financial penalties for equipment losses. Luckily the Directorate Navy is interested in Beth’s skillset and enlists her as a Navy fighter pilot.
I suspected Fire Ant wouldn’t be something I’d enjoy. There’s the rare exception (Yoon Ha Lee’s Ninefox Gambit is a clever, complicated, and well-characterized example of the genre), but military science-fiction holds very little appeal for me. Like many examples of its genre, Fire Ant offers an abundance of action, military procedure, and space battles, but is woefully short on characterization. By half-way through the novella I had started to skim, the extended training exercise descriptions and battle scenes making my eyes glaze over.
How, I wondered, does such a mediocre novella make it into an otherwise impressive slate of Nebula Award nominees? The answer seems to be through playing the voting system. Undoubtedly a nomination will increase the visibility of a work, but I wonder if this approach doesn’t do as much harm as it does good. Sure I wouldn’t have picked up Fire Ant at all if it hadn’t been nominated for Best Novella, but when a work isn’t at the caliber of writing demonstrated by the other nominees in its category, it suffers by comparison.
Unfortunately, Fire Ant feels amateurish. Published under self-publishing imprint Semper Fi Press, I caught multiple spelling and grammar errors in Fire Ant that suggested it could use a more comprehensive edit. I don’t want to take away from anyone’s passion. I certainly haven’t written and published a book, so I have a great respect for those who follow their dreams and become a writer, but when you not only put your book out into the world, but then push to have it recognized by one of the most prestigious awards for science-fiction and fantasy authors, you open yourself up to criticism.
Floribeth “Beth” Dalisay is a member of the Off-Planet Worker underclass who has, by virtue of her 4″6 height, become a pilot for a mega-corporation that sends tiny one-person ships on missions of exploration. On a routine contract to search new solar systems for natural resources and/or habitable planets, Beth encounters a hostile alien presence who begin firing on her. Some fancy flying saves Beth’s life, but when she reports her encounter to the company, they ground her ship and impose financial penalties for equipment losses. Luckily the Directorate Navy is interested in Beth’s skillset and enlists her as a Navy fighter pilot.
I suspected Fire Ant wouldn’t be something I’d enjoy. There’s the rare exception (Yoon Ha Lee’s Ninefox Gambit is a clever, complicated, and well-characterized example of the genre), but military science-fiction holds very little appeal for me. Like many examples of its genre, Fire Ant offers an abundance of action, military procedure, and space battles, but is woefully short on characterization. By half-way through the novella I had started to skim, the extended training exercise descriptions and battle scenes making my eyes glaze over.
How, I wondered, does such a mediocre novella make it into an otherwise impressive slate of Nebula Award nominees? The answer seems to be through playing the voting system. Undoubtedly a nomination will increase the visibility of a work, but I wonder if this approach doesn’t do as much harm as it does good. Sure I wouldn’t have picked up Fire Ant at all if it hadn’t been nominated for Best Novella, but when a work isn’t at the caliber of writing demonstrated by the other nominees in its category, it suffers by comparison.
Unfortunately, Fire Ant feels amateurish. Published under self-publishing imprint Semper Fi Press, I caught multiple spelling and grammar errors in Fire Ant that suggested it could use a more comprehensive edit. I don’t want to take away from anyone’s passion. I certainly haven’t written and published a book, so I have a great respect for those who follow their dreams and become a writer, but when you not only put your book out into the world, but then push to have it recognized by one of the most prestigious awards for science-fiction and fantasy authors, you open yourself up to criticism.