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jackiehorne 's review for:
Defy the Stars
by Claudia Gray
3.5 It seems strange to use the word "gentle" to describe a SF book, but that's the word that comes to mind when I think about reading this. It's marketed as YA, and one of its protagonists, Noemi Vidal, is 17, but it had the feel at times of a middle grade novel—a bit lacking in subtlety or moral complexity that I expect in adult SF. But still, I enjoyed the story of Noemi, a military officer of the planet Genesis, which is in the midst of fighting back an invasion from home planet Earth (Genesis cordoned itself off from Earth when it became clear that the people of Earth were destroying their planet through misuse/overuse of technology, and would do the same to Genesis if given the chance). Noemi is prepping for the "Masada Run," a last-ditch effort to stave off the invasion by damaging the wormhole gate that leads from Earth to Genesis. But when her best friend/foster sister's ship is attached by mechs from Earth, Noemi abandons her mission to try and help Esther. Landing them both on an abandoned Earth ship, Noemi discovers that the vessel isn't quite abandoned: a high-level Earth mech is still on board, a mech far more sophisticated than any anyone from Genesis has ever encountered before.
Abel, mistakenly left behind during an enemy attack, has spent the last 30 years stuck in one room in the ship. He's grateful to be released by Noemi, even though their first encounter is a violent one. Due to an oversight in his programming, the mech, Abel, must obey the commands of the highest ranking human he encounters; Noemi, even though an enemy, just happens to be that person. After Esther's death, the two set off on a mission to try and gather materials to sabotage the wormhole gate so that 150 of Noemi's friends and fellow officers won't have to sacrifice themselves to do it. There should be no problem ordering a mere mech to sacrifice itself, she believes. But over the course of their travels, Noemi gradually discovers that there is more to Abel than even his own creator had even imagined.
Abel is similar to Star Trek Voyager's Data, although even more human-like from the start, and his own, as well as Noemi's gradual realization of Abel's abilities and autonomy, while predictable, is still moving. There are small hints of romance, here, too, which are appealing.
Hope there will be more world-building, and greater exploration of the moral issues of immigration, environmental exploitation, and just and unjust war in future volumes in the series.
Abel, mistakenly left behind during an enemy attack, has spent the last 30 years stuck in one room in the ship. He's grateful to be released by Noemi, even though their first encounter is a violent one. Due to an oversight in his programming, the mech, Abel, must obey the commands of the highest ranking human he encounters; Noemi, even though an enemy, just happens to be that person. After Esther's death, the two set off on a mission to try and gather materials to sabotage the wormhole gate so that 150 of Noemi's friends and fellow officers won't have to sacrifice themselves to do it. There should be no problem ordering a mere mech to sacrifice itself, she believes. But over the course of their travels, Noemi gradually discovers that there is more to Abel than even his own creator had even imagined.
Abel is similar to Star Trek Voyager's Data, although even more human-like from the start, and his own, as well as Noemi's gradual realization of Abel's abilities and autonomy, while predictable, is still moving. There are small hints of romance, here, too, which are appealing.
Hope there will be more world-building, and greater exploration of the moral issues of immigration, environmental exploitation, and just and unjust war in future volumes in the series.