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allyourpagearebelongtous's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
snazel's review against another edition
Ia can see the future. That would be useful (and possibly lucrative) gift-- if her talent wasn't so strong that it showed her several centuries into the future. And if the galaxy wasn't going to be totally and agonizingly wiped out three centuries from now. (Kinda hard to focus on building anything if you can see it eaten every time your concentration drifts.) The only way to save the Galaxy is to follow a convoluted and unlikely time-stream, nudging, dragging, shoving, and outright modifying the future into the way she wants it to go. And the first step is to enlist in the space marines.
Oh man, this book makes heavy with the info dumps. It opens with pages of actual "I-am-required-to-tell-you-this-disclaimer" legalese as she enlists, and continues through training, briefings, and a few KNOWLEDGE SMACKDOWN arguments. That combined with a character who literally does not make mistakes makes a book I usually would have dropped in annoyed boredom almost immediately. But I didn't. I enjoyed this. I want to read more.
Maybe my meds are a bit off and I'm not properly processing emotion? That's always a possibility. More than that though, I think, I enjoyed the actual premise. Of course the character doesn't make mistakes-- she cannot. She has to walk an incredibly fine line, hauling the future as she goes, preparing mentally by running through her probable timelines in every spare second. I mean, come on. She has to do everything from writing a letter to be posted two centuries from now to give instructions to make sure two people never meet, to demurring on singing for the company just enough that when they press her for a performance she has to PERFORM and tell the story in rhyme and thereby make her nickname stick. That's just a fantastic premise.
Or maybe I have a hidden weakness for infodump. Idk.
Oh man, this book makes heavy with the info dumps. It opens with pages of actual "I-am-required-to-tell-you-this-disclaimer" legalese as she enlists, and continues through training, briefings, and a few KNOWLEDGE SMACKDOWN arguments. That combined with a character who literally does not make mistakes makes a book I usually would have dropped in annoyed boredom almost immediately. But I didn't. I enjoyed this. I want to read more.
Maybe my meds are a bit off and I'm not properly processing emotion? That's always a possibility. More than that though, I think, I enjoyed the actual premise. Of course the character doesn't make mistakes-- she cannot. She has to walk an incredibly fine line, hauling the future as she goes, preparing mentally by running through her probable timelines in every spare second. I mean, come on. She has to do everything from writing a letter to be posted two centuries from now to give instructions to make sure two people never meet, to demurring on singing for the company just enough that when they press her for a performance she has to PERFORM and tell the story in rhyme and thereby make her nickname stick. That's just a fantastic premise.
Or maybe I have a hidden weakness for infodump. Idk.
thinde's review against another edition
5.0
On my second read-through I found this novel to be at least as good as the first time. Admittedly, I did skip some of the more detailed descriptions of military protocol and procedure.
The heart of the story relies on the protagonist being absolutely certain that she must devote her all to a slim hope of saving humanity. This leaves no room to surrender to fear, weariness, or doubt. Thus she must become her best self. For us mere mortals, it's inspirational stuff.
The heart of the story relies on the protagonist being absolutely certain that she must devote her all to a slim hope of saving humanity. This leaves no room to surrender to fear, weariness, or doubt. Thus she must become her best self. For us mere mortals, it's inspirational stuff.
guardyourhonor's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed reading this, because it was just what I wanted (female protagonist, military space opera), but the book was just okay.
The main problem is a fundamental flaw with the story being told - Ia is too perfect at everything. Of course, since she can see the future and practice and know exactly when to do what, that makes sense, but it does drag the story down somewhat. The most interesting parts of the novel where in the sections where the future was too foggy to see, and there was a chance for failure. The very end, which in another military space opera would have been so satisfying, rang hollow because it felt unearned. Yes, she did all of the heroic things, but without a sense of risk it loses the meaning.
Another side annoyance was the way Ia seemed to have a couple of lip service "flaws" as though to make up for this - like her "rare" sense of humor. To start with, that's not really a flaw, and also it came up enough times that it wasn't actually rare. Maybe unusual, or dark, would have been a better description. Though even then, it kept being pointed out to the reader, which leads into my second and honestly bigger complaint:
There was far too much telling in this book, rather than showing. Often the author would do a perfectly fine job of showing something, and then immediately follow it up by spelling it out for the reader. No, I got it the first time. This was worst in the beginning, when there were long paragraphs of expository "thought" speech that felt entirely unnatural. Thankfully, the "thought" speech faded over time, but there was still a lot of spelling out that occurred.
Those are obviously some pretty serious critiques, but as I said at the beginning I still really enjoyed reading it. If you're just looking for a light military space opera read, this satisfied. The sentence level writing was better than some other books I've read in this genre, and I did like Ia well enough despite her flawlessness. I'm curious to learn more about what she knows. I've already ordered the sequels from the library.
The main problem is a fundamental flaw with the story being told - Ia is too perfect at everything. Of course, since she can see the future and practice and know exactly when to do what, that makes sense, but it does drag the story down somewhat. The most interesting parts of the novel where in the sections where the future was too foggy to see, and there was a chance for failure. The very end, which in another military space opera would have been so satisfying, rang hollow because it felt unearned. Yes, she did all of the heroic things, but without a sense of risk it loses the meaning.
Another side annoyance was the way Ia seemed to have a couple of lip service "flaws" as though to make up for this - like her "rare" sense of humor. To start with, that's not really a flaw, and also it came up enough times that it wasn't actually rare. Maybe unusual, or dark, would have been a better description. Though even then, it kept being pointed out to the reader, which leads into my second and honestly bigger complaint:
There was far too much telling in this book, rather than showing. Often the author would do a perfectly fine job of showing something, and then immediately follow it up by spelling it out for the reader. No, I got it the first time. This was worst in the beginning, when there were long paragraphs of expository "thought" speech that felt entirely unnatural. Thankfully, the "thought" speech faded over time, but there was still a lot of spelling out that occurred.
Those are obviously some pretty serious critiques, but as I said at the beginning I still really enjoyed reading it. If you're just looking for a light military space opera read, this satisfied. The sentence level writing was better than some other books I've read in this genre, and I did like Ia well enough despite her flawlessness. I'm curious to learn more about what she knows. I've already ordered the sequels from the library.
minotaursmaze's review against another edition
2.0
Interesting concept, but so very very slow. To much time spent explaining things like all the corridors on the ship. And none on all of the very pressing questions.
Add to that a main character who came off too perfect, I like my people flawed.
If the next ones pace is better maybe but not rushing for another one.
Add to that a main character who came off too perfect, I like my people flawed.
If the next ones pace is better maybe but not rushing for another one.
atlantic_puffin's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
If you like overly powerful main characters, this book is for you. Ia is a precog -- she can see potential future timelines for people -- as well as having many other powers. I found it a bit hilarious, but it could easily go the other way.
Sometimes this book feels like an experiment of how to make an interesting story when the main character can see the future -- how can you add suspense when you know the future? Well, it turns out the future isn't set and Ia is determined to follow a very specific and difficult future that saves a whole lot of lives. We don't get that far in this novel as it only follows the first two years of her military career.
This book has: lots of battles, rhyming verse, some alien races
This book does not have: super impressive worldbuilding, major mental/emotional challenges for the main character, romantic or sexual plotlines
Sometimes this book feels like an experiment of how to make an interesting story when the main character can see the future -- how can you add suspense when you know the future? Well, it turns out the future isn't set and Ia is determined to follow a very specific and difficult future that saves a whole lot of lives. We don't get that far in this novel as it only follows the first two years of her military career.
This book has: lots of battles, rhyming verse, some alien races
This book does not have: super impressive worldbuilding, major mental/emotional challenges for the main character, romantic or sexual plotlines
ladydamonayde's review against another edition
3.0
Very good. Nice to read a straight up military sci fi with a female lead. Got slightly choppy at the end, but worked well.
lindca's review against another edition
3.0
Nearly five hundred years from now, Ia is a precog whose visions of a very grim future induce her to enlist in the military, one of many moves she sees as the only path to save the universe. With a number of other beings having their own complex long games in play, she navigates the myriad threads of possibility to steer history toward that slim hope of survival, often at risk to her own.
Sounds like it could be really good, right?
Unfortunately, the possibilities were bogged down by a couple of major problems.
First of all, the story was bloated by frequent infodumps. Some merely were unnecessary details like the several paragraphs expounding on the color and number system for naming the halls and decks of the ship, information which never had any bearing on the story. Others were unnecessary technical explanations, some of which not only were superfluous but downright laughable. (Would a far future "portable writing device" not only have a keyboard but print out on PAPER?!) I alternated being annoyed by the infodumps and amused by them, I suspect not exactly the reactions the author wanted.
The larger problem was Ia herself as the protagonist. At the beginning of the story, she's an eighteen-year-old with a very heavy responsibility to bear. Her extreme gifts, not only her precognitive skills, made her uniquely able to accomplish the impossible, which she repeatedly did throughout the story. My problem was not so much that her abilities were so incredible as the story makes it clear that only such exceptional gifts would allow her to reach her goals. What bugged me and made it hard for me to relate to and care about Ia was the fact that she had so little emotional reaction to any of this. She had to give up any hope of a personal life, had to leave her family behind, had to do some pretty awful things in order to prevent even worse things from happening, and she did it all with few or no regrets, self-doubts, or even momentary selfish thoughts. She had an occasional nightmare, easily shrugged off. While I certainly would not want to read a lot of self-absorbed whining or hand-wringing, Ia's lack of emotional response to all this made it harder for me as a reader to become emotionally invested in her as a character. Her struggle was entirely external (and it's pretty clear she'll always prevail in that), with no real internal struggle to overcome. It made for a weaker story and a less interesting and engaging character.
Despite these flaws, I found the overall premise to be intriguing enough that I probably will at some point read the next book in the series. I only hope that the author will spend less time on meaningless infodumps and more on developing Ia's humanity, frailties and all.
Sounds like it could be really good, right?
Unfortunately, the possibilities were bogged down by a couple of major problems.
First of all, the story was bloated by frequent infodumps. Some merely were unnecessary details like the several paragraphs expounding on the color and number system for naming the halls and decks of the ship, information which never had any bearing on the story. Others were unnecessary technical explanations, some of which not only were superfluous but downright laughable. (Would a far future "portable writing device" not only have a keyboard but print out on PAPER?!) I alternated being annoyed by the infodumps and amused by them, I suspect not exactly the reactions the author wanted.
The larger problem was Ia herself as the protagonist. At the beginning of the story, she's an eighteen-year-old with a very heavy responsibility to bear. Her extreme gifts, not only her precognitive skills, made her uniquely able to accomplish the impossible, which she repeatedly did throughout the story. My problem was not so much that her abilities were so incredible as the story makes it clear that only such exceptional gifts would allow her to reach her goals. What bugged me and made it hard for me to relate to and care about Ia was the fact that she had so little emotional reaction to any of this. She had to give up any hope of a personal life, had to leave her family behind, had to do some pretty awful things in order to prevent even worse things from happening, and she did it all with few or no regrets, self-doubts, or even momentary selfish thoughts. She had an occasional nightmare, easily shrugged off. While I certainly would not want to read a lot of self-absorbed whining or hand-wringing, Ia's lack of emotional response to all this made it harder for me as a reader to become emotionally invested in her as a character. Her struggle was entirely external (and it's pretty clear she'll always prevail in that), with no real internal struggle to overcome. It made for a weaker story and a less interesting and engaging character.
Despite these flaws, I found the overall premise to be intriguing enough that I probably will at some point read the next book in the series. I only hope that the author will spend less time on meaningless infodumps and more on developing Ia's humanity, frailties and all.
krysley's review against another edition
Nope, sorry, I can't do this one. I DNF'd but didn't feel I had the right to rate it at just 40 pages in. I just couldn't stand the info dump and the "Sergeant, yes, Sergeant" one more time. I did skim random pages later in the book and still didn't care.
slc333's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the basic story and am certainly interested to see where it goes next. However I found it a bit heavy on the military description and ended up skimming sections quite often. For example when they are being trained on the guns there was SIX pages in a row describing the different types of guns used by the marines. Also I found it hard to warm to the heroine as she doesn't really interact or form connections with anyone as her mission is too important and she knows what is going to happen to everyone. I think a little less omnipotence and manipulation ( I don't mind some it just too much in the story) and a little more human interaction would have improved it for me.