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elefelanterosa's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
longl's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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
4.5
graff_fuller's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
Okay. There are a LOT of deep/complex thoughts and ideas within this book. I can honestly say...that I did not follow/understand all of them.
I'm not sure if the burden is on me (to understand), or to the author (to explain it well enough that I understand).
There is a certain part of me that is thinking of Interstellar and Inception, at the same time. Incredible vastness, but also infinate inwardness.
Abbris is the evil genius. Threi is the rebellious want-to-be and our favourites of Caiden, Leta and Azura are our heroes
I'm going to continue onto the third book, but I just wanted to be true and honest...I did NOT understand everything within this book.
I read certain sections multiple times...so that I'd have the best possible capacity to garner the requisite knowledge to fully enjoy this story.
The parts that I have understood, I obviously really enjoyed (hence, me continuing to read this book).
The parts that I "sort of" understand...is like dust in a ray of light. I can see them ONLY when the light shines on them, but when the cloud covers the light...I can no longer see the dust.
And saying that...there are af few parts that I don't even know that I don't understand...they are so unknowable...at this moment. Ugh.
I am going to walk away from this series for a beat. I will hopefully find a recap of what has gone on in THIS book...before proceeding on to the last book.
Again, I am not sure if it is TOTALLY on me, but am willing to think it is.
I'm not sure if the burden is on me (to understand), or to the author (to explain it well enough that I understand).
There is a certain part of me that is thinking of Interstellar and Inception, at the same time. Incredible vastness, but also infinate inwardness.
Abbris is the evil genius. Threi is the rebellious want-to-be and our favourites of Caiden, Leta and Azura are our heroes
I'm going to continue onto the third book, but I just wanted to be true and honest...I did NOT understand everything within this book.
I read certain sections multiple times...so that I'd have the best possible capacity to garner the requisite knowledge to fully enjoy this story.
The parts that I have understood, I obviously really enjoyed (hence, me continuing to read this book).
The parts that I "sort of" understand...is like dust in a ray of light. I can see them ONLY when the light shines on them, but when the cloud covers the light...I can no longer see the dust.
And saying that...there are af few parts that I don't even know that I don't understand...they are so unknowable...at this moment. Ugh.
I am going to walk away from this series for a beat. I will hopefully find a recap of what has gone on in THIS book...before proceeding on to the last book.
Again, I am not sure if it is TOTALLY on me, but am willing to think it is.
spellbound_archives's review against another edition
I know I didn’t get far, but the writing was my major gripe about the first book and it started right off the bat in this book. It is distractingly verbose and some sentences read like every word was looked up in a thesaurus.
theshaggyshepherd's review against another edition
5.0
Azura Ghost // by Essa Hansen
Oh man. Finally. I'm so glad I finally got to read this book, though now I am just as eager to get to the third book of course. It's difficult to savor something when you've been so excited for it and then it turns out just as good as you wanted it to be! I immediately jumped at the chance to get this ARC and even reread the first book to prepare for it despite it having not even been a whole year since reading it for the first time. I was so glad to be back with Caden (plus adorable sidekick!) and my favorite villain Threi.
We continue to learn more about world, or rather worlds, that Hansen created as well as the many characters that I have grown so fond of. I forgot to talk about this in my last review but I love Hansen's ability to come up with names. There are so many names in these books that sound so foreign to me, yet they all flow together really well, whether they are names for people, races, planets, creatures, or anything else.
Overall, while having many of the same components as the previous book, this one has a much different feel to it. There is much more of an intellectual and theoretical feel this time. Hansen really dove deep into the science this time and I can't claim to have understood it all. Nonetheless, this did not hinder the progression or my enjoyment of the story at all though. It still flowed really well and I didn't feel like it was distracting at all.
My only complaint for this book is that there isn't an audiobook! I adore the audio version of book 1 and am so sad that I couldn't continue on with the series in the same format.
Thank you for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Oh man. Finally. I'm so glad I finally got to read this book, though now I am just as eager to get to the third book of course. It's difficult to savor something when you've been so excited for it and then it turns out just as good as you wanted it to be! I immediately jumped at the chance to get this ARC and even reread the first book to prepare for it despite it having not even been a whole year since reading it for the first time. I was so glad to be back with Caden (plus adorable sidekick!) and my favorite villain Threi.
We continue to learn more about world, or rather worlds, that Hansen created as well as the many characters that I have grown so fond of. I forgot to talk about this in my last review but I love Hansen's ability to come up with names. There are so many names in these books that sound so foreign to me, yet they all flow together really well, whether they are names for people, races, planets, creatures, or anything else.
Overall, while having many of the same components as the previous book, this one has a much different feel to it. There is much more of an intellectual and theoretical feel this time. Hansen really dove deep into the science this time and I can't claim to have understood it all. Nonetheless, this did not hinder the progression or my enjoyment of the story at all though. It still flowed really well and I didn't feel like it was distracting at all.
My only complaint for this book is that there isn't an audiobook! I adore the audio version of book 1 and am so sad that I couldn't continue on with the series in the same format.
Thank you for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.
pilebythebed's review against another edition
3.0
Despite its long history there is still plenty of new and interesting space opera emerging. Series like Arkady Martine’s Telixcalaan books, Megan O’Keefe’s Protectorate series and Linden Lewis’ First Sister trilogy. Into that mix last year came Essa Hansen’s debut Nophek Gloss, which at least took the prize for weirdest title. That book used a range of space opera standards – multi-species empires, lost civilisations, eldritch powers, genetic modifications – but added in a few twists including manipulation of the multiverse. She now returns to that world in the high energy sequel Azura Ghost.
Nophek Gloss introduced readers to genetically modified supersoldier Caiden and his found family alien crew. The book ended with Caiden on the run with a nophek pup and on his unqiue ship the Azura. The epilogue for that book jumped ten years into the future and Azura Ghost picks up at that point. Caiden has been on the run from the forces of Threi, once his ally now an enemy who he has trapped in a pocket universe. And would stay on the run except that he learns that his adopted sister Leta may still be alive and in the hands of Threi’s sister and leader Unity Arbiss. Arbiss wants Caiden and his ship and uses Leta successfully as bait. Caiden is forced to fall back on his old connections as he tries to thwart Arbiss’s plans and all hell breaks loose.
Hansen’s scenario lends itself to high energy action sequences. Many of the characters have artificial bodies or are alien or in some other way enhanced so can take plenty of punishment allowing for lengthy chase and battle scenes. There is the capacity to create and jump between multiple different universes in which the laws of physics differ slightly. And in amongst all the sturm and drang are the questions of family and loyalty. Caiden struggles with knowing whether his companions support him because the has the power to coerce them or because he really is part of their found family. Arbiss and Threi have very different visions for the future but also have a shared history as brother and sister. And Leta has a deep connection to Caiden but now has her own “found family”. Unfortunately much of the emotional action of this book gets buried under the big set pieces making it hard to really connect with any of the characters, Caiden in particular.
Azura Ghost is a worthy follow up to Nophek Gloss. Hansen deeply understands her weird multiverse and is able to render her vision in a compelling way. Readers who loved the characters and concepts of that first book will be delighted to get more and bigger. But while the action is epic, Hansen is not quite able to capture some of the deeper emotional and character beats that make some of the other recent space operas so compelling. She is definitely though a science fiction author to watch.
Nophek Gloss introduced readers to genetically modified supersoldier Caiden and his found family alien crew. The book ended with Caiden on the run with a nophek pup and on his unqiue ship the Azura. The epilogue for that book jumped ten years into the future and Azura Ghost picks up at that point. Caiden has been on the run from the forces of Threi, once his ally now an enemy who he has trapped in a pocket universe. And would stay on the run except that he learns that his adopted sister Leta may still be alive and in the hands of Threi’s sister and leader Unity Arbiss. Arbiss wants Caiden and his ship and uses Leta successfully as bait. Caiden is forced to fall back on his old connections as he tries to thwart Arbiss’s plans and all hell breaks loose.
Hansen’s scenario lends itself to high energy action sequences. Many of the characters have artificial bodies or are alien or in some other way enhanced so can take plenty of punishment allowing for lengthy chase and battle scenes. There is the capacity to create and jump between multiple different universes in which the laws of physics differ slightly. And in amongst all the sturm and drang are the questions of family and loyalty. Caiden struggles with knowing whether his companions support him because the has the power to coerce them or because he really is part of their found family. Arbiss and Threi have very different visions for the future but also have a shared history as brother and sister. And Leta has a deep connection to Caiden but now has her own “found family”. Unfortunately much of the emotional action of this book gets buried under the big set pieces making it hard to really connect with any of the characters, Caiden in particular.
Azura Ghost is a worthy follow up to Nophek Gloss. Hansen deeply understands her weird multiverse and is able to render her vision in a compelling way. Readers who loved the characters and concepts of that first book will be delighted to get more and bigger. But while the action is epic, Hansen is not quite able to capture some of the deeper emotional and character beats that make some of the other recent space operas so compelling. She is definitely though a science fiction author to watch.
skylar2's review against another edition
3.0
While Hansen has wonderfully weird, vast multiverse in which to set her stories, her writing is weighted heavily towards dialogue rather than descriptions of the environment the characters are in, which made it hard for me to connect to the story. When the settings actually are described, it is often in a series of sentence fragments, which were hard for me to follow.
heavenbythesea's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
this book has everything. love. friendship. better pacing and plot than the first one. weird metaphysical science that works because it makes emotional sense. alien puppy. and last but not least a powerful morally grey woman. effervescent.
robdaemon's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
grimdark_dad's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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