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jayisreading's review against another edition
Unfortunately, I'm really struggling to get into this novel.
marmot28's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-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
sarah_grey's review against another edition
4.0
The end got a little rushed (weird to say in a 500 page book) but overall I really enjoyed this one. Unique premise, diverse and interesting characters. The AI concept was cool and I wish there was a little more of that.
hardwarejunkie9's review against another edition
5.0
Leicht's greatest strength is dropping in many little throwaway details about how her worlds work. This one has that in spades, with many intriguing socio-technical observations about the nature of AI,
space travel, and the complexities of different lives.
She's also showing a lot of growth here. She's a fantastic action author but she's clearly pushing into new territory here by creating so many action scenes that are less violence driven and more "How do we actually *solve* this?" I'm also glad to see the new ground in familial relationships and how being a parent mirrors being a child.
For her second trip into Science Fiction, she's definitely hitting her stride.
space travel, and the complexities of different lives.
She's also showing a lot of growth here. She's a fantastic action author but she's clearly pushing into new territory here by creating so many action scenes that are less violence driven and more "How do we actually *solve* this?" I'm also glad to see the new ground in familial relationships and how being a parent mirrors being a child.
For her second trip into Science Fiction, she's definitely hitting her stride.
dejahentendu's review
4.0
I loved this author's style and the book was really cool. Derring-do, character growth, lots of threads to follow, all pulled into a cohesive story.
Having recently read the Ring World and Ring World Engineers by Niven, I almost felt this was a reply to his stories. Heavily female and queer with an eye to further inclusivity, the story was a serious counterpoint to his rampant misogyny and serious inability to take "the other" seriously.
The Terran World (federation? I can't recall the third word.) was a nice balance against the ... um, other governmental body (I'm so bad with names!). When telling my daughter about the story, I referred to them as Texas. A loosely confederated system of corporations who fought more or less openly with each other, one representative actually said they were fulfilling their god-given right to a second manifest destiny.
Having recently read the Ring World and Ring World Engineers by Niven, I almost felt this was a reply to his stories. Heavily female and queer with an eye to further inclusivity, the story was a serious counterpoint to his rampant misogyny and serious inability to take "the other" seriously.
The Terran World (federation? I can't recall the third word.) was a nice balance against the ... um, other governmental body (I'm so bad with names!). When telling my daughter about the story, I referred to them as Texas. A loosely confederated system of corporations who fought more or less openly with each other, one representative actually said they were fulfilling their god-given right to a second manifest destiny.
keliseb's review against another edition
4.0
if you liked this book, allow me to direct you to the even better and eerily similar aurora cycle
misha_ali's review against another edition
4.0
A really fun ride. I love the expanded idea of parenthood, where Gita has incubated AIs in her brain, walked them through her life and "taught" them how to interact with the world and now the AIs are independent but still her daughters.
The plot gets a bit convoluted at some points when we have up to three mini-teams and there are points where we are left up in the air for the sake of suspense as we switch to a different point of view character, but overall the pace and separate teams work out.
I really enjoyed this as a run ride, as I said initially. I appreciate the idea of someone so empathetic that they are not quite cut out for the leadership role but is in it by default.
The plot gets a bit convoluted at some points when we have up to three mini-teams and there are points where we are left up in the air for the sake of suspense as we switch to a different point of view character, but overall the pace and separate teams work out.
I really enjoyed this as a run ride, as I said initially. I appreciate the idea of someone so empathetic that they are not quite cut out for the leadership role but is in it by default.
therobinwrites's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
szuum's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
roganshannon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
4.5
Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy to review.
Representation: Multiple queer characters, characters over 40, BIPOC
Gita Chithra is the captain of an intergalactic ship, The Tempest, and her crew does retrieval and assistance, fairly simple work. She has two daughters that are AGIs, Artificial General Intelligences, and she raised/trained them from their inception. There’s an artificial alien-made solar system, nicknamed Loki’s Ring, that very little is known about, because any attempt to get close is destroyed. Gita gets a frantic message from Ri, one of her daughters, warning of a mysterious contagion that’s killed and infected everyone on Loki’s Ring. Gita has to go help of course, and her crew is in for the ride. They’re faced with horrors, and have to call for help from an old friend that she hasn’t spoken to for a long time.
Rating: 4.5/5 This is the second book from Stina in the same universe, but a completely different location and cast. I really enjoyed Persephone Station, and I immensely enjoyed this one as well. I appreciate how casually queer Stina makes her characters, and they don’t hesitate to have a big variety in ages and genders. There are some well into their 50s, maybe older, which is fantastic to see in sci-fi. I feel like I can’t adequately sum up what this book is about, because there’s so much happening all at once. Loki’s Ring is the main focus sure, but there’s also several sub-plots completely unrelated, or are happening to lead up to the main event. The description also makes it seem like it’s only one POV, but there’s multiple, mostly between two or three people. I didn’t mind all of what was happening, but it does feel like it could have been streamlined a bit, or made the flow more smooth if it was from an omniscient narrator rather than specific POVs. As an example of how much is happening: an admin managing politics, a heist, corporations trying to claim territory, pirates and criminals, alien tech, salvage operations, military involvement, and that’s not even everything. Don’t expect an action-packed story though, there’s plenty of quiet and slow moments throughout the whole story. “Space opera” isn’t an entirely accurate description of this. If you enjoy sci-fi and wide-ranging stories, this is definitely a great read.
Representation: Multiple queer characters, characters over 40, BIPOC
Gita Chithra is the captain of an intergalactic ship, The Tempest, and her crew does retrieval and assistance, fairly simple work. She has two daughters that are AGIs, Artificial General Intelligences, and she raised/trained them from their inception. There’s an artificial alien-made solar system, nicknamed Loki’s Ring, that very little is known about, because any attempt to get close is destroyed. Gita gets a frantic message from Ri, one of her daughters, warning of a mysterious contagion that’s killed and infected everyone on Loki’s Ring. Gita has to go help of course, and her crew is in for the ride. They’re faced with horrors, and have to call for help from an old friend that she hasn’t spoken to for a long time.
Rating: 4.5/5 This is the second book from Stina in the same universe, but a completely different location and cast. I really enjoyed Persephone Station, and I immensely enjoyed this one as well. I appreciate how casually queer Stina makes her characters, and they don’t hesitate to have a big variety in ages and genders. There are some well into their 50s, maybe older, which is fantastic to see in sci-fi. I feel like I can’t adequately sum up what this book is about, because there’s so much happening all at once. Loki’s Ring is the main focus sure, but there’s also several sub-plots completely unrelated, or are happening to lead up to the main event. The description also makes it seem like it’s only one POV, but there’s multiple, mostly between two or three people. I didn’t mind all of what was happening, but it does feel like it could have been streamlined a bit, or made the flow more smooth if it was from an omniscient narrator rather than specific POVs. As an example of how much is happening: an admin managing politics, a heist, corporations trying to claim territory, pirates and criminals, alien tech, salvage operations, military involvement, and that’s not even everything. Don’t expect an action-packed story though, there’s plenty of quiet and slow moments throughout the whole story. “Space opera” isn’t an entirely accurate description of this. If you enjoy sci-fi and wide-ranging stories, this is definitely a great read.