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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
Loved this book, the idea was so original and I enjoyed the main character being such an amazing trouble maker!
In 2471, technology has reached a point where humans can travel from planet to planet, exploring far more of the galaxy than ever imagined before. But, the cost of space travel can be ill-favored as it often means you skip years or decades in ‘Earth Time’. Seventeen-year-old Lyra Daniels is faced with this challenge as she must leave behind yet another group of friends to go to another planet with her archeologist career-driven parents. She vows to stay low and not make any more friends on this new planet, but a mysterious boy and few crew members make that vow hard to keep. And, the on-going case on The Warriors continues to make Lyra get into trouble as the dangers of what they bring unfold.
While this book is suitable for adolescent readers, the lack of teenagers in the books can be off-putting. Lyra befriends about one person near her age, but most of the core characters are adults. This can cause for a bit of disinterest for adolescent readers as there are only about two characters that teenage readers can relate to. While Lyra’s thought-process and sarcastic remarks are very realistic for a seventeen-year-old, her inner dialogue becomes overwhelming and doesn’t allow the reader to fill-in-the-blank as much, thus inhibiting their imagination and interpretation. The world, however, (or universe for that matter) that Maria creates is incredibly complex, realistic, and engaging.
While this book is suitable for adolescent readers, the lack of teenagers in the books can be off-putting. Lyra befriends about one person near her age, but most of the core characters are adults. This can cause for a bit of disinterest for adolescent readers as there are only about two characters that teenage readers can relate to. While Lyra’s thought-process and sarcastic remarks are very realistic for a seventeen-year-old, her inner dialogue becomes overwhelming and doesn’t allow the reader to fill-in-the-blank as much, thus inhibiting their imagination and interpretation. The world, however, (or universe for that matter) that Maria creates is incredibly complex, realistic, and engaging.
Maybe more like a 3.5?
Great concept and fun story, however I wasn't as invested in the story or the characters as I was with Poison Study (even though I said to myself as I was reading that I should stop comparing it to Poison Study).
Great concept and fun story, however I wasn't as invested in the story or the characters as I was with Poison Study (even though I said to myself as I was reading that I should stop comparing it to Poison Study).
Provided by the State Library Victoria as part of the Inky Awards.
Navigating the Stars is a young-adult, sci-fi book set several centuries in the future with the main plot being that millions of terracotta warriors made from China over two thousand years ago has been moved by some alien race to these so called ‘warrior planets.’ There’s a bit of world building going on with time jumps to get to other planets quicker and spaceships and the such. It’s a fairly interesting premise and the cover is quite dazzling, though I can’t help but feel that some things bother me.
As expected, it’s a fast paced book, with a romance and lots of plot twists. In terms of originality in writing and plot, there’s really nothing too special. The world building was also a bit under explained at times, though I suppose since this a the first book in a trilogy, some things the author would have needed to keep quiet about. Some things, like soch-time, which is a designated time for socialising, and as annoying as it ways for the main character, was interesting as it shows how the world has become more and more digitalised and it’s a means to get people talking with people.
It’s also during soch-time where the main character, Lyra meets her main love interest, Niall. I honestly don’t see what is so good or likeable about him to be honest. He comes off being arrogant, too sensible and full of sarcasm. The amount of times that he says, ‘I hate to be the sensible one’ got really irritating. Lyra is a much more careful and troublemaker and I felt that their relationship was a bit too forced and I couldn’t really liked the romance.
To be fair, it could be a good book for people to get started into the sci-fi genre as there’s nothing horrible about it and for the most part, people may be at least interested in reading the rest of the books in this series when they come out.
Not much is explained about whatever aliens are in this book, as they are meant to remain a mystery, so the only characters in this book are humans. The villains in this book isn’t revealed towards the end either, which creates some guesswork and the ancient terracotta warriors creates an aura of intrigue and the question of why? There’s also an instant messaging system called the Q-net which is pretty much the internet but the futuristic version and Lyra can do this thing called worming, which is pretty much like hacking into it.
There’s not too much in terms of character development and throughout the course of the book, no one really changes all that much. Lyra is still Lyra, constantly breaking the rules, her parents act like her parents, Radcliff is still a but of a bastard and Niall becomes a bit more open, which I hope is a good sign that the characters will develop more as time goes on, though I can’t help but think if more things should have happened in this book.
There were a lot of things that were well done, but also things that really weren’t all that great, and to be fair, I’ll probably forget about it by the time the second book comes around as it simply wasn’t all that memorable of a read. 5.5/10
Navigating the Stars is a young-adult, sci-fi book set several centuries in the future with the main plot being that millions of terracotta warriors made from China over two thousand years ago has been moved by some alien race to these so called ‘warrior planets.’ There’s a bit of world building going on with time jumps to get to other planets quicker and spaceships and the such. It’s a fairly interesting premise and the cover is quite dazzling, though I can’t help but feel that some things bother me.
As expected, it’s a fast paced book, with a romance and lots of plot twists. In terms of originality in writing and plot, there’s really nothing too special. The world building was also a bit under explained at times, though I suppose since this a the first book in a trilogy, some things the author would have needed to keep quiet about. Some things, like soch-time, which is a designated time for socialising, and as annoying as it ways for the main character, was interesting as it shows how the world has become more and more digitalised and it’s a means to get people talking with people.
It’s also during soch-time where the main character, Lyra meets her main love interest, Niall. I honestly don’t see what is so good or likeable about him to be honest. He comes off being arrogant, too sensible and full of sarcasm. The amount of times that he says, ‘I hate to be the sensible one’ got really irritating. Lyra is a much more careful and troublemaker and I felt that their relationship was a bit too forced and I couldn’t really liked the romance.
To be fair, it could be a good book for people to get started into the sci-fi genre as there’s nothing horrible about it and for the most part, people may be at least interested in reading the rest of the books in this series when they come out.
Not much is explained about whatever aliens are in this book, as they are meant to remain a mystery, so the only characters in this book are humans. The villains in this book isn’t revealed towards the end either, which creates some guesswork and the ancient terracotta warriors creates an aura of intrigue and the question of why? There’s also an instant messaging system called the Q-net which is pretty much the internet but the futuristic version and Lyra can do this thing called worming, which is pretty much like hacking into it.
There’s not too much in terms of character development and throughout the course of the book, no one really changes all that much. Lyra is still Lyra, constantly breaking the rules, her parents act like her parents, Radcliff is still a but of a bastard and Niall becomes a bit more open, which I hope is a good sign that the characters will develop more as time goes on, though I can’t help but think if more things should have happened in this book.
There were a lot of things that were well done, but also things that really weren’t all that great, and to be fair, I’ll probably forget about it by the time the second book comes around as it simply wasn’t all that memorable of a read. 5.5/10
Interesting young adult --- 4.5 stars, rounding up. I liked the way long travel times exacerbated normal teenage angst when parents make you move. The archaeological and hacking elements were fun (if perhaps a bit too cleancut at times). And, the better part of a week later, that's really all I remember....
This book was surprisingly good. It started out a little rocky with a lot of world building and some info dumping, but I got used to the jargon and picked up on the story and things smoothed out.
I really liked Lyra as a character - yeah she was special snow-flakey but it really didn't bother me. I think I just liked how she thought, and her relationships with the other characters were well written and it was just great. I also enjoyed how involved her parents were in her life and how much she respected her parents and their opinion of her as well. The romance was a little cringey, but also really cute, and it wasn't super in your face.
I really enjoyed Maria V. Snyder's writing and story telling. It's just so easy to read and the story just flows really well. I've really enjoyed her Poison study series and this delivered just as much. I'll definitely be looking out for the next book in this series, and anything else she comes out with.
I really liked Lyra as a character - yeah she was special snow-flakey but it really didn't bother me. I think I just liked how she thought, and her relationships with the other characters were well written and it was just great. I also enjoyed how involved her parents were in her life and how much she respected her parents and their opinion of her as well. The romance was a little cringey, but also really cute, and it wasn't super in your face.
I really enjoyed Maria V. Snyder's writing and story telling. It's just so easy to read and the story just flows really well. I've really enjoyed her Poison study series and this delivered just as much. I'll definitely be looking out for the next book in this series, and anything else she comes out with.
I was looking forward to reading this book as soon as I got my hands on it and I was not disappointed. Easily my favorite author, Maria V. Snyder delivers an action packed and emotionally invested story for all people, even those who know nothing about science (aka me).
Any time I read one of Snyder’s books, it’s nearly impossible to put it down, which is why I finished it so quickly (even in the midst of taking college classes). I cannot wait for the sequel to continue investing in this story and these characters. Once again, I am so thankful my sister introduced me to this author many (maybe 6 or 7?) years ago!
Any time I read one of Snyder’s books, it’s nearly impossible to put it down, which is why I finished it so quickly (even in the midst of taking college classes). I cannot wait for the sequel to continue investing in this story and these characters. Once again, I am so thankful my sister introduced me to this author many (maybe 6 or 7?) years ago!
Navigating the Stars by Maria V Snyder is the first book in the author’s first SF series (she has many fantasy books under her belt already). It was also my first experience of the author’s work and I’m pleased to say it was a very positive one. I was drawn to pick up this book because the blurb intrigued me and I am glad I took a chance on it.
The first thing I want to say is that Snyder clearly did her research when it came to setting up a futuristic society. Not only does she bother to include time dilation in her interstellar travel — remarkable in and of itself since so many books take a lazy magically fast travel approach — but she also thought through the social ramifications of it. The story opens with Lyra, our protagonist, sad, angry and desperate over the fact that her parents will soon be moving to another planet for work. Since she is under 18 and has to come along, that means she will never see any of her current friends again. The way the research base kids deal with that situation struck me as very believable and it was an emotional scene to read.
The way they travel through space to distant planets is still a little bit magic, time dilation or not, but it was sufficiently well thought out that I didn’t find anything to complain about. Ditto the quantum computer that controls navigation and a host of other things. There was also a bit of maths-based problem solving that I found it quite plausible that Lyra would be capable of. In summary, this book gets my “physics done right” seal of approval. Oh, and there was also some realistic treatment of head wounds, which was refreshing to see.
Not ignoring the laws of physics wasn’t the only thing done right in this book. The story was engaging and I enjoyed Lyra’s voice and being in her head. The archaeological side of things, which Lyra was frequently involved with thanks to her parents, was also interesting and not overburdened by boring details. By the time the more mysterious elements of the plot came to the forefront, I was well and truly invested and couldn’t put the book down. (And now I am sleep-deprived.) the romance was probably the least interesting element of the plot, since Lyra’s love interest is literally the only other teenager insight, but he was a sufficiently interesting character that I didn’t get annoyed at him and actually worried for his safety (I may have forgotten that I was reading a Harlequin book at that point.)
I highly recommend this book to all fans of hard science fiction and/or YA. Snyder shows that lazy shortcuts to advance the plot (magic travel, ignoring concussions) aren’t necessary to make a story interesting and engaging. I was really pleased with the realism (yes, realism, even when strange inexplicable things were also happening) and the amount of research that clearly went into this book. I was trepidatious about how the ending would go and whether I would still want to read the sequel, but I am pleased to report that I am definitely interested in finding out what happens next (and that it didn't end on a horrible cliffhanger or anything like that). Bring on the sequel!
5 / 5 stars
You can read more of my reviews on
The first thing I want to say is that Snyder clearly did her research when it came to setting up a futuristic society. Not only does she bother to include time dilation in her interstellar travel — remarkable in and of itself since so many books take a lazy magically fast travel approach — but she also thought through the social ramifications of it. The story opens with Lyra, our protagonist, sad, angry and desperate over the fact that her parents will soon be moving to another planet for work. Since she is under 18 and has to come along, that means she will never see any of her current friends again. The way the research base kids deal with that situation struck me as very believable and it was an emotional scene to read.
The way they travel through space to distant planets is still a little bit magic, time dilation or not, but it was sufficiently well thought out that I didn’t find anything to complain about. Ditto the quantum computer that controls navigation and a host of other things. There was also a bit of maths-based problem solving that I found it quite plausible that Lyra would be capable of. In summary, this book gets my “physics done right” seal of approval. Oh, and there was also some realistic treatment of head wounds, which was refreshing to see.
Not ignoring the laws of physics wasn’t the only thing done right in this book. The story was engaging and I enjoyed Lyra’s voice and being in her head. The archaeological side of things, which Lyra was frequently involved with thanks to her parents, was also interesting and not overburdened by boring details. By the time the more mysterious elements of the plot came to the forefront, I was well and truly invested and couldn’t put the book down. (And now I am sleep-deprived.) the romance was probably the least interesting element of the plot, since Lyra’s love interest is literally the only other teenager insight, but he was a sufficiently interesting character that I didn’t get annoyed at him and actually worried for his safety (I may have forgotten that I was reading a Harlequin book at that point.)
I highly recommend this book to all fans of hard science fiction and/or YA. Snyder shows that lazy shortcuts to advance the plot (magic travel, ignoring concussions) aren’t necessary to make a story interesting and engaging. I was really pleased with the realism (yes, realism, even when strange inexplicable things were also happening) and the amount of research that clearly went into this book. I was trepidatious about how the ending would go and whether I would still want to read the sequel, but I am pleased to report that I am definitely interested in finding out what happens next (and that it didn't end on a horrible cliffhanger or anything like that). Bring on the sequel!
5 / 5 stars
You can read more of my reviews on
The bad thing about starting a new series as soon as it comes out, is waiting for the rest, because this book was sooooooooooooooooo good!! It did have romance (bleh) but it wasn't too typical and was a slow thing rather than an inst-thing, thankfully!!
The story was great, the characters were great. Everything was great. Loved it, want more!! Want more now.
The story was great, the characters were great. Everything was great. Loved it, want more!! Want more now.
I'll admit, I really do enjoy Maria V Snyders writing style, and hers is always one that I find myself returning to - this is no exception. It did take me a little while to get into the story and the voice of Lyra, but when I did I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It was well-paced, interesting, and there were enough twists and turns to keep me interested - although the constant use of she/he in place of the much easier they bothered me.
It was well-paced, interesting, and there were enough twists and turns to keep me interested - although the constant use of she/he in place of the much easier they bothered me.