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kimbapnboba's review against another edition
3.0
Reminds me of the tv show firefly in a way. I enjoyed the pace of the book and the characters, the only problem I had was that the relationship between the 2 main protagonists happened a bit fast to me.
1nce's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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
4.0
deathman00789's review against another edition
4.0
If you can make it past page 18 you'll love the book.
hollybg's review against another edition
3.0
So I was rather looking forward to this small book which promised to be packed with exciting future-tech and amazing interstellar scenes. I was, unfortunately, rather disappointed.
Sirantha Jax is a jumper, a rare genetic oddity that means she can guide spaceships millions of light years through grimspace in the blink of an eye. However her last trip resulted in a horrendous crash, leaving everyone on board dead except for her. Now subject to endless tests and interviews by the Corp, who trained and employed her, she tries desperately to remember what happened and if it was her fault? Finally on the verge of a mental break a stranger called March waltzes into her secure cell and offers her the chance to jump again on his small ship Svetlana's Folly, but at the price of becoming a hunted outlaw. She joins up and they head to the outskirts of space to meet the denizens of the universe not happy with the Corp’s monopoly. And they have a plan to break it.
Quite set up, that plus the rather tough and trippy cover had me very interested in this book. However the actual writing never really lived up to the blurb and this story left me a little flat.
Jax is actually a quite likable character. She wasn’t born tough or kick-ass and she isn’t pathetic and in need of constant rescue. She has led a rather sheltered life as the Corp’s top Jumper. But that’s what made her development quite intriguing, watching her discover the truth about her not-so-universally-beloved benefactor. Jax tries to adjust to life as a hunted criminal when she is more used to being a darling celebrity and her resourcefulness when faced with this massive change endeared me to her. However there were aspects to her personality I did not warm to at all.
I’ve read quite a bit of fiction lately from a few differing genres, but something most modern fantasy, sci-fi, historical and crime fiction seems to have in common these days is that they all seem to think they must have a romantic element in them. Now I love a bit of romance (and sometimes I’m happy with just plain lusty hi-jinks) but the relationship has to develop realistically and the attraction has to feel genuine. My least favourite things in all romantically tinged fiction is:
1. The instant blazing attraction that becomes fully fledged undying love 24hrs after first contact.
2. The “clueless” heroine who can’t ever figure out why this guy (that she admits is hot every 5 pages, but only does so grudgingly) is constantly mean and grumpy at her until he dives down her throat tongue first.
Grimspace suffered from the second of these offenses, quite heavily, and a little from the first. March is overly cold to Jax at first, and this is actually understandable, because who would welcome a suspected mass murder on their ship with open arms? But she takes that first encounter and assumes that he hates her for no reason and then repeats this like a mantra “but March hates me” using it as an excuse for his odd behaviour around her, which isn’t even all that negative. They even talk it out at one point and March reveals a very good reason for initially disliking her, and yet his actions show he clearly doesn’t dislike her at all. In fact it’s obvious he feels the opposite.
And that’s another thing, why does he like her? After what seemed like less than a week he started displaying some very affectionate behaviour towards her, and I was like ‘Huh? Where did this come from?’ I invented a number of reasons to try and explain it, they were lovers but she had her memory wiped, her dead lover’s soul was programmed into his body. Loads of silly sci-fi reasons that would have explained why he seemed so in to her, but no. He just is. Not that Jax notices any of this. Or at least she does, but she throws a big blanket over it with the words “but March hates me” stitched on it.
Thankfully the crew are vibrant and solid feeling people, especially Dina the snarky ship engineer (who I loved). As are the parade of characters they meet throughout the story, I’m definitely hankering to learn more about the alien bounty hunter Velith (who wouldn’t?).
As a nice bonus the story really picked up towards the end (once the painfully dense relationship problems had been ironed out) and I suddenly found I was enjoying the all the big action. This great improvement in the last act means that I will definitely pick up the next book in the series just to see if Aguirre has managed to expand on her rather fascinating universe, now she has gotten over that first clumsy hurdle.
Sirantha Jax is a jumper, a rare genetic oddity that means she can guide spaceships millions of light years through grimspace in the blink of an eye. However her last trip resulted in a horrendous crash, leaving everyone on board dead except for her. Now subject to endless tests and interviews by the Corp, who trained and employed her, she tries desperately to remember what happened and if it was her fault? Finally on the verge of a mental break a stranger called March waltzes into her secure cell and offers her the chance to jump again on his small ship Svetlana's Folly, but at the price of becoming a hunted outlaw. She joins up and they head to the outskirts of space to meet the denizens of the universe not happy with the Corp’s monopoly. And they have a plan to break it.
Quite set up, that plus the rather tough and trippy cover had me very interested in this book. However the actual writing never really lived up to the blurb and this story left me a little flat.
Jax is actually a quite likable character. She wasn’t born tough or kick-ass and she isn’t pathetic and in need of constant rescue. She has led a rather sheltered life as the Corp’s top Jumper. But that’s what made her development quite intriguing, watching her discover the truth about her not-so-universally-beloved benefactor. Jax tries to adjust to life as a hunted criminal when she is more used to being a darling celebrity and her resourcefulness when faced with this massive change endeared me to her. However there were aspects to her personality I did not warm to at all.
I’ve read quite a bit of fiction lately from a few differing genres, but something most modern fantasy, sci-fi, historical and crime fiction seems to have in common these days is that they all seem to think they must have a romantic element in them. Now I love a bit of romance (and sometimes I’m happy with just plain lusty hi-jinks) but the relationship has to develop realistically and the attraction has to feel genuine. My least favourite things in all romantically tinged fiction is:
1. The instant blazing attraction that becomes fully fledged undying love 24hrs after first contact.
2. The “clueless” heroine who can’t ever figure out why this guy (that she admits is hot every 5 pages, but only does so grudgingly) is constantly mean and grumpy at her until he dives down her throat tongue first.
Grimspace suffered from the second of these offenses, quite heavily, and a little from the first. March is overly cold to Jax at first, and this is actually understandable, because who would welcome a suspected mass murder on their ship with open arms? But she takes that first encounter and assumes that he hates her for no reason and then repeats this like a mantra “but March hates me” using it as an excuse for his odd behaviour around her, which isn’t even all that negative. They even talk it out at one point and March reveals a very good reason for initially disliking her, and yet his actions show he clearly doesn’t dislike her at all. In fact it’s obvious he feels the opposite.
And that’s another thing, why does he like her? After what seemed like less than a week he started displaying some very affectionate behaviour towards her, and I was like ‘Huh? Where did this come from?’ I invented a number of reasons to try and explain it, they were lovers but she had her memory wiped, her dead lover’s soul was programmed into his body. Loads of silly sci-fi reasons that would have explained why he seemed so in to her, but no. He just is. Not that Jax notices any of this. Or at least she does, but she throws a big blanket over it with the words “but March hates me” stitched on it.
Thankfully the crew are vibrant and solid feeling people, especially Dina the snarky ship engineer (who I loved). As are the parade of characters they meet throughout the story, I’m definitely hankering to learn more about the alien bounty hunter Velith (who wouldn’t?).
As a nice bonus the story really picked up towards the end (once the painfully dense relationship problems had been ironed out) and I suddenly found I was enjoying the all the big action. This great improvement in the last act means that I will definitely pick up the next book in the series just to see if Aguirre has managed to expand on her rather fascinating universe, now she has gotten over that first clumsy hurdle.
jmoses's review against another edition
4.0
I thought this was an excellent read. Interesting characters, fantastic universe and great story. The overall plot isn't anything new, but it's not so worn it was boring. I look forward to more in the series.
westcoaster05's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.75
tani's review against another edition
5.0
I had a pretty good review typed up, and then Goodreads had a glitch and I lost it and I am far too lazy to attempt to recreate it.
Abbreviated summary: It started slow and had a few technical difficulties, but I fell in love with the characters, and that's all that really matters.
Abbreviated summary: It started slow and had a few technical difficulties, but I fell in love with the characters, and that's all that really matters.
melindavan's review against another edition
4.0
This month in the Vaginal Fantasy Hangout we focused on Science Fiction romance. There’s really not a lot to choose from in that particular niche, but I’m glad we read this one. I really enjoyed Grimspace. The two main characters, Jax and March, are both older. By that I mean they are in their early thirties, as opposed to being 18 or 25. For me this made them a bit richer through all their life experiences. Sirantha Jax (Is that name awesome or what?) had been married before. She skipped out on her old life to join the Corp and be a “jumper,” which means she can plug into something called Grimspace and jump a spaceship lightyears at a time. Not many have the ability, and it’s hinted that Jax might just have something a bit alien in her make-up that makes it possible for her to plug in to Grimspace and not eventually burn out.
When the story opens, Jax is stuck in what appears to be a psych facility, having been falsely accused of deliberately crashing a ship. She was the sole survivor, and it quickly becomes apparent that she wasn’t meant to live through it. March is the one who busts her out of the facility. He needs a jumper so he can locate other people with the same ability in order to start a private academy of jumpers with the hope that they can make a living free of the Corp. Since Jax now has no love for the Corp, she joins him in his quest. It’s a David and Goliath type of story, and it was fun to root for the little guys.
First Line: “Are you afraid of falling, baby?”
No, I’m afraid of landing.
He’s laughing, and I’m smiling. Stupid idiot smile, don’t you know what comes next? Wake. Wake now. I don’t want to see this, not again. It’s not helping me deal. This thing is roken. Oh no. No.
I sit up, shuddering, shoving the dark mop of hair out of my face, and my fingers come away wet with sweat.
Normally, I’m not a big fan of starting out in the middle of a dream sequence. Usually it means I have no idea what is going on, and not sure what is real and what isn’t. Here, however, it works. Because Jax herself has no idea what is going on and what is real. She’s been in a huge crash. She’s lost the love of her life, and feels responsible for it. Plus, you find out later, the evil people who run the place are trying to make her take the blame for the crash, so they are deliberately making her relive stuff in the hopes she goes insane. I have to say, I was hooked by this opening. It was bewildering, and more than a little confusing, but in a good way. Er, you know what I mean.
The part that grabbed me the most about this story was the narrative voice. This is told first person, present tense. But more than that, it reads like a stream-of-consciousness journal. I felt like I was completely in Jax’s head. It was like seeing the unedited, raw jumble of thoughts that we all have running through our minds and thank goodness, nobody gets to see but us. It really worked for this story, and it gave it a raw edge that drove the pace and plot.
I loved the space aspect of this, the visits to other worlds, the inclusion of the Corp which operates pretty much as I would expect a big, out of control organization to act. The world building, no pun intended, is full and rich and the characters are so real I feel like I know them. While this is a romance, the romance doesn’t really take center stage at all. If you’re looking for erotic fiction this isn’t it. Even the sex scenes are pretty tame, and there’s not much of that. What you get is a solid story, intriguing plot and characters, and spaceships. What’s not to like?
When the story opens, Jax is stuck in what appears to be a psych facility, having been falsely accused of deliberately crashing a ship. She was the sole survivor, and it quickly becomes apparent that she wasn’t meant to live through it. March is the one who busts her out of the facility. He needs a jumper so he can locate other people with the same ability in order to start a private academy of jumpers with the hope that they can make a living free of the Corp. Since Jax now has no love for the Corp, she joins him in his quest. It’s a David and Goliath type of story, and it was fun to root for the little guys.
First Line: “Are you afraid of falling, baby?”
No, I’m afraid of landing.
He’s laughing, and I’m smiling. Stupid idiot smile, don’t you know what comes next? Wake. Wake now. I don’t want to see this, not again. It’s not helping me deal. This thing is roken. Oh no. No.
I sit up, shuddering, shoving the dark mop of hair out of my face, and my fingers come away wet with sweat.
Normally, I’m not a big fan of starting out in the middle of a dream sequence. Usually it means I have no idea what is going on, and not sure what is real and what isn’t. Here, however, it works. Because Jax herself has no idea what is going on and what is real. She’s been in a huge crash. She’s lost the love of her life, and feels responsible for it. Plus, you find out later, the evil people who run the place are trying to make her take the blame for the crash, so they are deliberately making her relive stuff in the hopes she goes insane. I have to say, I was hooked by this opening. It was bewildering, and more than a little confusing, but in a good way. Er, you know what I mean.
The part that grabbed me the most about this story was the narrative voice. This is told first person, present tense. But more than that, it reads like a stream-of-consciousness journal. I felt like I was completely in Jax’s head. It was like seeing the unedited, raw jumble of thoughts that we all have running through our minds and thank goodness, nobody gets to see but us. It really worked for this story, and it gave it a raw edge that drove the pace and plot.
I loved the space aspect of this, the visits to other worlds, the inclusion of the Corp which operates pretty much as I would expect a big, out of control organization to act. The world building, no pun intended, is full and rich and the characters are so real I feel like I know them. While this is a romance, the romance doesn’t really take center stage at all. If you’re looking for erotic fiction this isn’t it. Even the sex scenes are pretty tame, and there’s not much of that. What you get is a solid story, intriguing plot and characters, and spaceships. What’s not to like?
twstdtink's review against another edition
5.0
This nonstop action/romance scifi book reminds me of Firefly/Serenity and Star Wars all wrapped up into one. The characters are multifaceted, the plot well developed, and it's a super quick read. I can't wait to pick up more in the series. Thanks Goodreads for recommending this to me!
nattyg's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoyed this a lot. It was fantastic and I'm salivating for the next one.