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unrulyshoggoth's review
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
elusivity's review against another edition
3.0
Steady-paced beginning, fascinating premise, leading to frantically-paced, far less interesting action-thriller type ending.
Ukiah is a good-hearted young man apparently raised by wolves then taken in by his lesbian-couple moms, who now works with his partner Max as private detectives. He has uncanny abilities, such as photographic recall, rapid healing, and ability to analyze things by touch down to DNA level. I started off thinking this may be another werewolf story, but quickly found things are much stranger.
The alien species is very original in that their very cells mimic life, and have memories encoded down to DNA-level. When aliens /clones bleed or suffer dismemberment, the blood and body parts still strive to survive, and immediately mutate into different sized animals according to the amount of cells they contain -- i.e. field mice, mongoose -- a creepy-cute detail I've never seen elsewhere. These smaller life forms can be absorbed by other clones to share the original's memories, to change to the original's appearance, or be tortured then fed to grow into a full clone of the original. All of which happens to Ukiah's poor mice, as Hex attempt to thwart Ukiah.
I really liked the details and well-established relationships this book began with: Ukiah himself, quiet and pure, Max, his lesbian mothers, his little sister, his strange abilities and how they are used in his daily work. At mid-point, however, a switch is thrown and and the sense of depth and solid-world quality took a sudden backseat to plot. New characters are hastily introduced, mostly very thinly sketched. Events pull back sharply from the careful close-up of Ukiah's life, the mystery of his origin, to a global conspiracy spanning hundreds of years, involving a huge crowd of people, expanding outwardly all the way to Mars. The transition is jarring, and I think to the novel's detriment.
Still, an interesting read.
Ukiah is a good-hearted young man apparently raised by wolves then taken in by his lesbian-couple moms, who now works with his partner Max as private detectives. He has uncanny abilities, such as photographic recall, rapid healing, and ability to analyze things by touch down to DNA level. I started off thinking this may be another werewolf story, but quickly found things are much stranger.
Spoiler
In fact, Ukiah is genetically engineered product of human and an alien, Hex, intent to taking over Earth. Hex comes from a species that propagate itself by injecting DNA into living beings, which then transforms into Hex clone, with Hex's thoughts and memories, which are then capable of creating more Hex clones. Ukiah and the Pack that eventually finds him are all descended from one such clone who was somehow able to maintain its own thoughts, hated Hex, and opposed it in every way possible, whose legacy is its memories and cell-level hatred of Hex, which were passed down to the Pack and to Ukiah.The alien species is very original in that their very cells mimic life, and have memories encoded down to DNA-level. When aliens /clones bleed or suffer dismemberment, the blood and body parts still strive to survive, and immediately mutate into different sized animals according to the amount of cells they contain -- i.e. field mice, mongoose -- a creepy-cute detail I've never seen elsewhere. These smaller life forms can be absorbed by other clones to share the original's memories, to change to the original's appearance, or be tortured then fed to grow into a full clone of the original. All of which happens to Ukiah's poor mice, as Hex attempt to thwart Ukiah.
I really liked the details and well-established relationships this book began with: Ukiah himself, quiet and pure, Max, his lesbian mothers, his little sister, his strange abilities and how they are used in his daily work. At mid-point, however, a switch is thrown and and the sense of depth and solid-world quality took a sudden backseat to plot. New characters are hastily introduced, mostly very thinly sketched. Events pull back sharply from the careful close-up of Ukiah's life, the mystery of his origin, to a global conspiracy spanning hundreds of years, involving a huge crowd of people, expanding outwardly all the way to Mars. The transition is jarring, and I think to the novel's detriment.
Still, an interesting read.
lgarrity's review
adventurous
hopeful
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? No
4.5
marcelozanca's review
adventurous
tense
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
3.25
nixwhittaker's review
5.0
He is called wolf boy because he was raised by wolves. He is soon to find out that his origins are much more alien than that.
A very unique alien invasion story and certainly worth the read.
A very unique alien invasion story and certainly worth the read.
kcollett75's review
3.0
First of the Ukiah books; I should learn to trust Wen Spencer—she always sucks you in.
heliotropepajamas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
This whole series is such a comfort read for me - I think this was my fourth or fifth re-read. I'm probably biased because my whole family is from Pittsburgh and this story is very grounded in that location. The genre is rather interesting - kind of like take urban fantasy but make it sci-fi, which I absolutely love. I usually describe it to friends as "werewolf biker gangs in pittsburgh" which is usually enough to hook them.
On this reread the romance between Indigo & Ukiah seemed more abrupt than usual, but I can roll with it. Looking forward to the rest of the series, since I actually prefer the later books.
On this reread the romance between Indigo & Ukiah seemed more abrupt than usual, but I can roll with it. Looking forward to the rest of the series, since I actually prefer the later books.
kobfroggie's review
DNF halfway. The beginning was great and I wanted to continue reading but after a while it just felt too long. Intriguing plot and premise and I liked Ukiah's character fine but not enough to conitnue. For some reason, I just can't connect with him at all. Maybe the writing? The romance didn't convice me either.
shell_s's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
shantastic's review
4.0
Wow. This book was exactly what I needed. Everything is just about perfect, from the very well-drawn characters to the setting (which I don't normally pay attention to but which I was impressed with) and the themes explored.
First the characters. I loved Ukiah Oregon. In fact, he may have to supplant Miles Vorkosigan as the fictional character I would run off to live in sin with if he were real. He's a sweet, noble guy who loves deeply and purely and with all that he is. And you know that being raised by a lesbian couple has made him into the kind of man any woman would want to be with.
The secondary characters are also very well drawn. I was especially intrigued by Max Bennet, Ukiah's mentor and partner. I loved watching them interact. Max has also had a ton of crap heaped on him, but thanks to Ukiah, he is slowly beginning to heal. And we know this because we are shown, not told, which is one of the book's other strengths.
I mentioned the setting was well-done. The book is set in Pitsburgh, and it's very clear that Spencer knows about Pitsburgh. In fact, it's sort of amusing that the setting stuck out to me at all, because I kept being reminded of a Mage: the Ascension game I used to play in, which was run by a native of Pitsburgh who mentioned several of the same settings Spencer used in the book, which was cool and added more pleasant associations to my reading.
As for the plot, you'll notice the question mark under the book's genre. I really don't know how to classify this book. It's got a very definite urban fantasy feel for about the first two-thirds, reminding me of a somewhat grittier Charles de Lint (which is, natch, a good thing), but then it takes a left hand turn and goes wandering off into science fiction land.
The sci-fi elements of the plot were definitely not my favorites. They seemed straight out of a cheap B movie, and even though they made sense for the story, some of them seemed beyond preposterous and I had to roll my eyes.
I'm also not sure how well the romance worked for me. I can't decide if I thought it was rushed or if it made sense that Ukiah would fall for the person he falls for so quickly because he just seems to love people so intensely anyway. I think I'm leaning toward the latter, because it is one of the sweetest romances I've read in a while, but I'm not normally a fan of the characters meeting and professing their love mere days later.
Overall, despite its flaws, this was a great book which I highly recommend. I definitely intend to read the sequel as soon as possible.
First the characters. I loved Ukiah Oregon. In fact, he may have to supplant Miles Vorkosigan as the fictional character I would run off to live in sin with if he were real. He's a sweet, noble guy who loves deeply and purely and with all that he is. And you know that being raised by a lesbian couple has made him into the kind of man any woman would want to be with.
The secondary characters are also very well drawn. I was especially intrigued by Max Bennet, Ukiah's mentor and partner. I loved watching them interact. Max has also had a ton of crap heaped on him, but thanks to Ukiah, he is slowly beginning to heal. And we know this because we are shown, not told, which is one of the book's other strengths.
I mentioned the setting was well-done. The book is set in Pitsburgh, and it's very clear that Spencer knows about Pitsburgh. In fact, it's sort of amusing that the setting stuck out to me at all, because I kept being reminded of a Mage: the Ascension game I used to play in, which was run by a native of Pitsburgh who mentioned several of the same settings Spencer used in the book, which was cool and added more pleasant associations to my reading.
As for the plot, you'll notice the question mark under the book's genre. I really don't know how to classify this book. It's got a very definite urban fantasy feel for about the first two-thirds, reminding me of a somewhat grittier Charles de Lint (which is, natch, a good thing), but then it takes a left hand turn and goes wandering off into science fiction land.
The sci-fi elements of the plot were definitely not my favorites. They seemed straight out of a cheap B movie, and even though they made sense for the story, some of them seemed beyond preposterous and I had to roll my eyes.
I'm also not sure how well the romance worked for me. I can't decide if I thought it was rushed or if it made sense that Ukiah would fall for the person he falls for so quickly because he just seems to love people so intensely anyway. I think I'm leaning toward the latter, because it is one of the sweetest romances I've read in a while, but I'm not normally a fan of the characters meeting and professing their love mere days later.
Overall, despite its flaws, this was a great book which I highly recommend. I definitely intend to read the sequel as soon as possible.