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foreseen_karma's review against another edition
4.0
A bit jargon-y and leaning much more toward hard sci-fi than the previous volumes, but still maintaining the characters that I love and the family/relationship dynamics that make Gould's books special. Although my least favorite of the four, that is only in comparison to how much I adore the other three volumes, rather than to suggest any true dislike for this book, and speaks only to enforce how special the series really is.
_b_a_l_'s review against another edition
3.0
*3.5 stars*
Best female protagonist I've come across in a YA novel in ages. Thank you Steven Gould for providing us with a teenage girl who, while she still experiences the typical BF drama, is way more interested in important things, like SPACE.
There are a couple of problems with the story; everyone seems remarkably blasé when they learn that Cent can jump and I think Gould tries to use too much jargon to justify a not incredibly likely scenario for space exploration.
But I still really enjoyed it.
Best female protagonist I've come across in a YA novel in ages. Thank you Steven Gould for providing us with a teenage girl who, while she still experiences the typical BF drama, is way more interested in important things, like SPACE.
There are a couple of problems with the story; everyone seems remarkably blasé when they learn that Cent can jump and I think Gould tries to use too much jargon to justify a not incredibly likely scenario for space exploration.
But I still really enjoyed it.
tasharobinson's review against another edition
3.0
I remain fascinated by the way Steven Gould has largely used this book series as a very, very elaborate how-to manual for teleporters: Jumper was basically "how a teleporter should go about building an impregnable, unreachable fortress and a safe life," Reflex was "how to capture, contain, and enslave a teleporter" and "how a teleporter should escape captivity and slavery," Impulse was "how to cope with being a teen teleporter or the parent of a teen teleporter," and now Exo is "how a teleporter can set up a stable life in orbit." It's impressive how thoroughly Steven Gould thinks these things through, how elaborate and detailed and methodical his mechanical fantasies get.
But the tradeoff is that books have often been varying degrees of dry character-wise. This one reminded me a fair bit of Andy Weir's The Martian, which is similarly focused on how a crisis in space could be solved by real-world science, and has a similar tendency to replace story with pages upon pages of mechanical process. As much as like the idea, and I admire the research, in this case I reached a point where I was skimming pages, then skipping them, because the character development stopped entirely for chapters on end, in favor of mechanical step-by-step looks at safety protocols for a spacesuit, or every step of building an orbital habitat out of more or less off-the-shelf items. I finished this book with no questions about one-woman teleportation-enabled space travel, but a million questions about character choices, especially the protagonist's. In the end, I still wasn't entirely clear on why she made a lot of her biggest decisions, which is really a problem in a book that spends this much time on the mathematics of orbital mechanics. I largely enjoyed reading it, but it really feels like it would have been stronger if it had spent more time on how Cent's decisions here change the world and her family and their personal vendettas, instead of the book's main threat being a brief face-off in the last few chapters, and Cent herself beginning all this without ever stating why she did it.
But the tradeoff is that books have often been varying degrees of dry character-wise. This one reminded me a fair bit of Andy Weir's The Martian, which is similarly focused on how a crisis in space could be solved by real-world science, and has a similar tendency to replace story with pages upon pages of mechanical process. As much as like the idea, and I admire the research, in this case I reached a point where I was skimming pages, then skipping them, because the character development stopped entirely for chapters on end, in favor of mechanical step-by-step looks at safety protocols for a spacesuit, or every step of building an orbital habitat out of more or less off-the-shelf items. I finished this book with no questions about one-woman teleportation-enabled space travel, but a million questions about character choices, especially the protagonist's. In the end, I still wasn't entirely clear on why she made a lot of her biggest decisions, which is really a problem in a book that spends this much time on the mathematics of orbital mechanics. I largely enjoyed reading it, but it really feels like it would have been stronger if it had spent more time on how Cent's decisions here change the world and her family and their personal vendettas, instead of the book's main threat being a brief face-off in the last few chapters, and Cent herself beginning all this without ever stating why she did it.
rabbaaliza's review against another edition
5.0
This book has everything I love about the Jumper series but pivots enough in its content to feel fresh and new. For anyone who prefers the term "womaned spacecraft" to the term "manned spacecraft."
kb_208's review against another edition
3.0
I read all four books right in a row and I think this was my least favorite. It is also the longest. I like the characters and their personalities, but this book was way too much tech explanation and very little plot development. The character development is fantastic, like it is in all the books. My main gripe is the lack of antagonist. There's a little bit of foreshadowing near the beginning, but nothing involving the antagonist happens until page 370. The final confrontation is only the last 30 pages of the near 500 page book. The climax is pretty good, so it's not a bad ending or anything. I would have liked to see more interactions with the "them".
The main story involves Cent who wants to go up in space and finds someone to develop a suit for her. She eventually creates her own space company that takes satellites in and out of orbit for other companies. The first thing that strikes me is that for a group of people trying to keep hidden this doesn't lend itself to inconspicuousness.
The first two books of this series are fantastic in my opinion. The books featuring Cent are decent, but not my favorite by any means.
The main story involves Cent who wants to go up in space and finds someone to develop a suit for her. She eventually creates her own space company that takes satellites in and out of orbit for other companies. The first thing that strikes me is that for a group of people trying to keep hidden this doesn't lend itself to inconspicuousness.
The first two books of this series are fantastic in my opinion. The books featuring Cent are decent, but not my favorite by any means.
leo_the_first's review against another edition
5.0
It's always a sad day when you reach the end of a good series of books and I still can't believe I'm done with this particular series. After you've spent so much time with some of your favorite characters, it feels odd to know that you've reached the end of their documented lives. These four books were definitely some of the best I've ever read, with some of the best characters. Davy, Millie and Cent will always have a special place in this reader's heart!
As for Exo, the book is quite good, I just wish the climax had lasted a little bit longer, with a little more suspense. It wasn't a deal-breaker or anything, but it made the main antagonist of the book seem a lot more amateurish than were in the past.
The main plot, however, was exquisite! I wouldn't change anything about it. There isn't a single line that lingers or feels out of place and there is nothing that feels left out of the narrative either.
The cherry on top is the conclusion! It isn't an easy task to end a series. Gould nailed it with this one!
As for Exo, the book is quite good, I just wish the climax had lasted a little bit longer, with a little more suspense. It wasn't a deal-breaker or anything, but it made the main antagonist of the book seem a lot more amateurish than were in the past.
The main plot, however, was exquisite! I wouldn't change anything about it. There isn't a single line that lingers or feels out of place and there is nothing that feels left out of the narrative either.
The cherry on top is the conclusion! It isn't an easy task to end a series. Gould nailed it with this one!
lotten4's review
3.0
I had some trouble understanding what was going on. For example:
"Two inline counter-rotating eight-bladed props ran off separate permanent magnet motors and separate batteries (for redundancy), six feet from the very top of the stack, providing five hundred cubic feet per minute of airflow, with an option to bump it up to nine hundred, if we were willing to put up with the noise."
Thats a long sentance.
Not a fan of Joe and the whole romance is still kind of uninspiring. It's a shame because Davy and Millie are so much fun, more of them please.
"Two inline counter-rotating eight-bladed props ran off separate permanent magnet motors and separate batteries (for redundancy), six feet from the very top of the stack, providing five hundred cubic feet per minute of airflow, with an option to bump it up to nine hundred, if we were willing to put up with the noise."
Thats a long sentance.
Not a fan of Joe and the whole romance is still kind of uninspiring. It's a shame because Davy and Millie are so much fun, more of them please.
deathwilldie's review against another edition
4.0
This whole series was good. I prefer the first two books because it had more conflict and action than the last two. Overall I still really enjoyed them.