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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
mysterious
reflective
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:
Complicated
Really fun little mystery set on the rings of Jupiter where Humanity now lives due to the destruction of Earth.
Pleiti and Mossa are very much Watston and Sherlock but they also happen to be former girlfriends.
The Mystery was well done and had some nice twists and turns for such a short book. The interactions between Mossa and Pleiti were a delight as they both complement each other so well. Especially in the way each of their skills mesh to help them solve the puzzles in front of them.
Pleiti and Mossa are very much Watston and Sherlock but they also happen to be former girlfriends.
The Mystery was well done and had some nice twists and turns for such a short book. The interactions between Mossa and Pleiti were a delight as they both complement each other so well. Especially in the way each of their skills mesh to help them solve the puzzles in front of them.
A quiet mystery set on Jupiter about a Sherlock-esque Investigator and her Watson-esque ex-girlfriend and "Classics" (read: 20th-21st century Earth) scholar. Although the prologue is from the POV of the Investigator, Mossa, the rest of it is told solely from the scholar's, Pleiti's, perspective. Which is a bit of a shame, because Mossa is more interesting than Pleiti.
Mossa has been sent to investigate the disappearance of a university scholar from a remote train platform. The initial theory is that he jumped into the gasses below, but Mossa quickly discards that. She reconnects with her university ex-girlfriend, Pleiti, now a Classics scholar in the same department as the missing man. Together, they seek to solve the mystery which, like all sci fi mysteries, is tied to something bigger than it first appears.
Older has created a coherent but slightly alien society on Jupiter (n/k/a Giant). Given the fact that humanity now lives on a gas giant, there is limited livable space. All the livable space there is rests on human-created platforms that are connected through a free train system. The settlers still dream of returning to Earth, and want to one day reseed the planet so the ecosystems exactly duplicate what it was like before humans destroyed it. There is no sense that life exists on other planets as well - or at least, there is no discussion of interplanetary communication. I am curious if Older expands her world in future books to include other settlements (I mean, why would Jupiter of all places be the only inhabited planet in our solar system?). The setting shines the most in this novella.
The mystery is nicely done as well, if not overly exciting. This certainly has a cozy mystery feel. Mossa and Pleiti are good takes on the Sherlock/Watson dynamic (intentional or not). Unfortunately, Pleiti spends a lot of time pining over Mossa and feeling inadequate in comparison to Mossa's brilliance, which is a bit of a drag to read (although Pleiti is bright as well and Mossa clearly appreciates her contributions). This is partly why I wished more of the book was from Mossa's perspective, who seemed unlikely to waste too much time on such illogical feelings.
Where this novella suffered for me is that it felt slow and a little ponderous. Despite wanting to know the resolution of the mystery (which felt early on a little less of a "whodunnit" than a "what really happened to the vanished man?"), it was hard to pick up again every time I put it down (even though it's under 200 pages). It is a very wordy, dense novella. I am still on the fence on reading future entries in this series because of that, but I am very curious to see more of the world that Older has created .
Mossa has been sent to investigate the disappearance of a university scholar from a remote train platform. The initial theory is that he jumped into the gasses below, but Mossa quickly discards that. She reconnects with her university ex-girlfriend, Pleiti, now a Classics scholar in the same department as the missing man. Together, they seek to solve the mystery which, like all sci fi mysteries, is tied to something bigger than it first appears.
Older has created a coherent but slightly alien society on Jupiter (n/k/a Giant). Given the fact that humanity now lives on a gas giant, there is limited livable space. All the livable space there is rests on human-created platforms that are connected through a free train system. The settlers still dream of returning to Earth, and want to one day reseed the planet so the ecosystems exactly duplicate what it was like before humans destroyed it. There is no sense that life exists on other planets as well - or at least, there is no discussion of interplanetary communication. I am curious if Older expands her world in future books to include other settlements (I mean, why would Jupiter of all places be the only inhabited planet in our solar system?). The setting shines the most in this novella.
The mystery is nicely done as well, if not overly exciting. This certainly has a cozy mystery feel. Mossa and Pleiti are good takes on the Sherlock/Watson dynamic (intentional or not). Unfortunately, Pleiti spends a lot of time pining over Mossa and feeling inadequate in comparison to Mossa's brilliance, which is a bit of a drag to read (although Pleiti is bright as well and Mossa clearly appreciates her contributions). This is partly why I wished more of the book was from Mossa's perspective, who seemed unlikely to waste too much time on such illogical feelings.
Where this novella suffered for me is that it felt slow and a little ponderous. Despite wanting to know the resolution of the mystery (which felt early on a little less of a "whodunnit" than a "what really happened to the vanished man?"), it was hard to pick up again every time I put it down (even though it's under 200 pages). It is a very wordy, dense novella. I am still on the fence on reading future entries in this series because of that, but I am very curious to see more of the world that Older has created .
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
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
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The pitch of lesbian scifi sherlock holmes does a lot of heavy lifting here and I would say the book definitely delivers. The romance is a whisper of a background subplot, and the mystery is very much central focus, and the science fiction is integral to the storyline. I think everyone's expectations are likely accurate, and I don't have much to complain about. Except I'm not a huge mystery fan, nor a huge scifi fan, nor a huge sherlock holmes fan, so I that's on me. I was impressed by the integration of the science fiction, though.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
one for second chance romances, but it worked here.
adventurous
mysterious
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
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
I found the pace to be too slow; the characters too unrelatable; the prose too unnecessarily complicated; the setting too cardboardy and inconsequent.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No