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mxdshipwreck 's review for:
Derelict
by L.J. Cohen
Lisa Cohen’s DERELICT is a punchy, fast-moving YA sci-fi novel with a gripping story and lots of heart. The characters are complex, flawed, and well-rounded. They inspire, they annoy, they bicker and fight. They find (and turn away from) love, form bonds, endure tragedies, and conquer personal demons.
What I loved most about the book were the technical details. Cohen writes about technology and computers with more skill and acuity than any writer I’ve read in recent memory. In the hands of lesser writers, lengthy passages about hacking, electronic security, or repairing communications systems might get stale or unbelievable -- but Cohen writes with such adroit precision that this simply never happens.
This is not to say that the book neglects its characters -- far from it. Each is vibrant and well-drawn, and the conflicts are all organic and credible. DERELICT tells a story about the family you choose over the family you’re born with. The young men and women of the story are frequently alienated from the common family structures many of us take for granted, and must learn to be inventive and self-reliant in a universe that’s stacked the deck against each of them.
I enjoyed it a lot, and am looking forward to the sequel. Recommended.
What I loved most about the book were the technical details. Cohen writes about technology and computers with more skill and acuity than any writer I’ve read in recent memory. In the hands of lesser writers, lengthy passages about hacking, electronic security, or repairing communications systems might get stale or unbelievable -- but Cohen writes with such adroit precision that this simply never happens.
This is not to say that the book neglects its characters -- far from it. Each is vibrant and well-drawn, and the conflicts are all organic and credible. DERELICT tells a story about the family you choose over the family you’re born with. The young men and women of the story are frequently alienated from the common family structures many of us take for granted, and must learn to be inventive and self-reliant in a universe that’s stacked the deck against each of them.
I enjoyed it a lot, and am looking forward to the sequel. Recommended.