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vesnet's review against another edition
4.0
An enjoyable read. It contains a lot of different elements which might bother some people, but I rather enjoyed.
There are a couple of unanswered questions that I would have liked to have covered, but all in all well worth a read if you enjoy sci-fi.
The sequel should be really interesting.
There are a couple of unanswered questions that I would have liked to have covered, but all in all well worth a read if you enjoy sci-fi.
The sequel should be really interesting.
carladay83's review against another edition
4.0
A very interesting book but the ending was very abrupt. Thankfully there is a sequel though so I can't be too annoyed.
pieneman's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
johnayliff's review
3.0
A competent but never brilliant debut. A band of astronauts, including the linguist protagonist, explore a semi-derelict alien spaceship, in which they encounter various kinds of peril; the linguist makes telepathic contact with an entity on the ship; meanwhile one of the other astronauts is in love with her.
The first few chapters are a little shaky but the book gets more interesting when the telepathic contact is made. The protagonist feels a little too perfect, even given the fact that she shines most brightly when seen from her lover's point of view, and we're told more than we really need to know about the heroic exploits of her past. The other astronauts, meanwhile, sometimes felt interchangeable. Some of the action sequences felt like a videogame. The prose style is never less than adequate but never much more, either, and descends a bit too frequently into cliche and said-bookisms.
But the book mostly moves along at a good pace, it's always easy to read, and the plot able to sustain interest. The alien universe, when we finally learn details of it, is full of old-fashioned space-operatic wonder, and further exploration of this universe (which is where the sequel hook seems to be pointed) sounds like it would be fun. The prominent romance sub-plot gives the book something that most sf novels don't have, so the book seems like it would be of interest to readers looking for sf/romance hybrids.
The first few chapters are a little shaky but the book gets more interesting when the telepathic contact is made. The protagonist feels a little too perfect, even given the fact that she shines most brightly when seen from her lover's point of view, and we're told more than we really need to know about the heroic exploits of her past. The other astronauts, meanwhile, sometimes felt interchangeable. Some of the action sequences felt like a videogame. The prose style is never less than adequate but never much more, either, and descends a bit too frequently into cliche and said-bookisms.
But the book mostly moves along at a good pace, it's always easy to read, and the plot able to sustain interest. The alien universe, when we finally learn details of it, is full of old-fashioned space-operatic wonder, and further exploration of this universe (which is where the sequel hook seems to be pointed) sounds like it would be fun. The prominent romance sub-plot gives the book something that most sf novels don't have, so the book seems like it would be of interest to readers looking for sf/romance hybrids.
gloame's review
3.0
Had a lot of things I liked, but fell short in delivering several of them. I would probably check out the next one.
dea080020's review
3.0
clumsy at times, an easy entertaining sci-fi read the nerd in me enjoyed with a bad ass heroine. warning- cheesy implausible unnecessary romance.
100pagesaday's review
3.0
NASA has been monitoring a seemingly abandoned alien ship, the Target, in a nearby asteroid belt since the 1960's. Unknown to the public, watching the ship has been the reason for many advances in space technology. Now, with an asteroid in the path of the Target, NASA wants to get its hands on any technology aboard the ship before it's destroyed. In assembling a team to go to the ship, they are missing one component, a linguist to decipher any writing on the ship and communicate if anything is alive on board. Dr. Jane Holloway has a knack for languages and a passion for adventure. When the team finally reaches the Target after a grueling journey, Jane finds out that the ship is not quite abandoned, the being on board has found a way to communicate with her and it wants her to something for the ship.
A suspenseful space adventure with a scientific base and atypical aliens. What captured me most in Fluency was Jane's character. I knew she was intelligent, but she also is brave, loyal and can act under pressure. As the ship reveals itself to Jane, her personality reveals itself and she is forced to act with information that is only known to her. This splits the team, some crew members believe she is crazy, others believe that her increased knowledge must come from something aboard the ship. This divide creates an interesting tension. There wasn't a ton of action in the book, but there were some fighting scenes with dangerous space slugs, most of the action is taking place within Jane's mind as she learns how to communicate with the entity aboard. My biggest dislike was the sort-of, jumbled romance between Jane and crewman Alan Bergen. There was a lot of tension, weirdness and not really great circumstances for an actual romance when Jane was seemingly passed out half the time when she was communicating with the alien. The ending was interesting to me with a little unexpected twist.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
A suspenseful space adventure with a scientific base and atypical aliens. What captured me most in Fluency was Jane's character. I knew she was intelligent, but she also is brave, loyal and can act under pressure. As the ship reveals itself to Jane, her personality reveals itself and she is forced to act with information that is only known to her. This splits the team, some crew members believe she is crazy, others believe that her increased knowledge must come from something aboard the ship. This divide creates an interesting tension. There wasn't a ton of action in the book, but there were some fighting scenes with dangerous space slugs, most of the action is taking place within Jane's mind as she learns how to communicate with the entity aboard. My biggest dislike was the sort-of, jumbled romance between Jane and crewman Alan Bergen. There was a lot of tension, weirdness and not really great circumstances for an actual romance when Jane was seemingly passed out half the time when she was communicating with the alien. The ending was interesting to me with a little unexpected twist.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
petealdin's review
5.0
Excellent characters and plotting. A great universe. One of the better first contact stories out there.