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A review by kittenmittons
Rubicon by J.S. Dewes
4.25
J.S. Dewes has very quickly and easily become my favourite sci-fi writer (well, maybe she doesn't feel it was easy, to actually, you know, write these books). She's great at writing characters, at having stakes actually feel like there's something to lose, usually something horrifying, and especially great at writing natural bonds between characters which, as an absolute glutton for found family, I lap up every time. And Rubicon hits all of these marks handily.
Military sci-fi and with AI isn't the kind of thing that draws me to a story, but this was so well-written and my heart was in my throat for too much of it to even allow me a breath to think about how this wasn't my thing. The first chapter sets the stage for how tightly written this is, how the bonds with characters are a stand-out, and, oh yeah, how horrifyingly messed up Adrienne very understandably is.
There are a lot of comments about how infuriating the ending is, so I guess I'll add my two cents: I can't say that I found the ending satisfying, per se, but it was a hell of an arc and I felt like the arc came to a very strong conclusion. I'd absolutely read a sequel (but then, I'd do that no matter the ending), but I also don't know how the sequel would possibly be written. Regardless of what you think of the ending, this was a total ride.
Military sci-fi and with AI isn't the kind of thing that draws me to a story, but this was so well-written and my heart was in my throat for too much of it to even allow me a breath to think about how this wasn't my thing. The first chapter sets the stage for how tightly written this is, how the bonds with characters are a stand-out, and, oh yeah, how horrifyingly messed up Adrienne very understandably is.
There are a lot of comments about how infuriating the ending is, so I guess I'll add my two cents: I can't say that I found the ending satisfying, per se, but it was a hell of an arc and I felt like the arc came to a very strong conclusion. I'd absolutely read a sequel (but then, I'd do that no matter the ending), but I also don't know how the sequel would possibly be written. Regardless of what you think of the ending, this was a total ride.