Elitist Book Reviews

After 5 books of mayhem, Ann Aguirre's Sirantha Jax series comes to a close with ENDGAME.
Jax finds herself on the La'hong homeworld, fighting for the freedom of the enslaved natives. She's promised her friend Loras that she will do whatever it takes to pay him back for the way she treated him when he depended on her--even if it means sacrificing herself to see the rebellion he's leading to the bitter end.
With her is her friend Vel, the bug-like alien who is akin to a soul mate to Jax; Zeeka, the frog-like alien she has a motherly affection for; March, former enemy turned lover and mind reader; and March's nephew Sasha, a strong telekinetic. It is because of Jax that they're on La'heng fighting a war that's not theirs. But that doesn't mean they won't give it their all. Other friends/enemies show up, as well as remembrances of those who are gone--fans will love the tying up of old and new stories.
Told from Jax's PoV in a present tense, the story itself is narrated quickly with very little downtime. Jax's life is full of excitement, and as the war builds up steam, she finds herself in the thick of things. You are never in question about what she thinks about something or her motivation (it can get repetitious at times). Despite Jax's occasional emo interludes, she can still kick your butt, should the need arise. She's a fun balance of woman and warrior.

At the forefront of her mind are the people she loves, particularly March, who struggles with her platonic but deep relationship with Vel. They spend the book working through their issues, and while at times it's heavy-handed and I was tempted to skip it because it doesn't influence the main plot, it was an interesting exercise watching two very flawed and strong-willed people work through their problems together.

Because of the scope of the novel--it covers years of a war for freedom--there's time and events that are glossed over for the sake of a more tightly plotted novel. While the too-quick pace was necessary, I second guessed the use of this method with the genre of book involved. There were a few plot twists to keep us interested, but they can feel out of place, even when they aren't in the bigger picture of events. Certainly we see plenty of the nitty-gritty of guerrilla warfare and the broken relationships that are its result, but even the ending felt rushed and too tidy.

The entire book takes place on La'heng, where humans took advantage of the slave mentality of the La'heng people, who were chemically altered 200 years ago. Jax brings with her a cure, restoring to the people the ability to fight back. It's a simple enough set up. But for me it was the methods of the freedom fighting and the watching it in action that interested me most--as well as watching the people involved change as the result of the war.

Ultimately, I'm sure that reading the final book of a 6-book series without having read the first 5 ruined the impact of the resolution for me. But what I read here wasn't enough to get me excited about going back to read what came before.

Recommended Age: 16+
Language: Moderate
Violence: Guerrilla warfare, battle scenes, sometimes bloody
Sex: Several scenes with mild detail

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ENDGAME

Miles Vorkosigan is reliable. Reliably clever. Reliably entertaining. Reliable at finding trouble. But does reliability equal excellence? For Miles it does because he's reliably awesome, but for Lois McMaster Bujold, who can and has written better, CRYOBURN is merely better-than-average entertainment.

Something's rotten on the planet Kibou-diani, and Miles is trying to sniff out the secret. Known for their use of cryonics to preserve the ill or aged until medicine advances enough for a cure, the crybobanks pretty much run the planet and are looking to expand and provide services for a new population on another planet. But there's more to it than a business making money, and Miles is determined to get to the bottom of it--even if it means breaking a few rules and stretching beyond his own diplomatic immunity.

The story opens with our rascally Miles lost in underground cryobanks after a botched kidnapping. He eventually escapes and is taken in by the young Jin, a homeless boy, who has a problem that Miles is just itching to solve.

And thus sets off the usual mayhem that surrounds Miles' long career as a mercenary and now as problem-solving auditor for Barrayar's Emperor Gregor.

Bujold is one of the best speculative fiction writers out there, she can do it all: prose, plot, characterization, dialogue, science, setting. And yet. After reading this I just didn't get the buzz I usually do when I read her stuff. Sure it's a fun story, with subplots and subtlety, interesting science, fascinating characters....hmm, I don't make it sound very bad, do I? Perhaps she's spoiled me too much in the past with her brilliant CORDELIA'S HONOR, THE WARRIOR'S APPRENTICE, and etc. But she probably should have let her fans continue to clamor for more Miles Vorkosigan books and just let the series end its already long and glorious run, especially if it meant dragging it out with a random side-story like this.

And yet. It's still a good book by any standard. What's nice about the series is that even though we follow many of the same characters throughout, we watch them grow and change; events alter the characters and we see those consequences. In CRYOBURN that doesn't happen, which is one reason why it falls short of the excellence of previous novels in the series. Perhaps Bujold was just looking for some good, cathartic fun, in which case she succeeds here.

For Bujold, the science in the Vorkosigan series is about the morality of life and death (no technical over-my-head showing off for the sake of it), and these dilemmas often drive the story. In CRYOBURN it's about the problems inherent in a society that relies on being frozen indefinitely until there's a cure for death. It's this speculation and focused view of these dilemmas that give her science a human aspect with more immediacy.

CRYBOBURN is fast-paced, because that's the only pace Miles knows. In this novel, however, the PoV is not exclusively Miles: we experience things from armsman Roic and then also young Jin. We get to see Miles from outside eyes, and understand how much Miles affects the people he comes in contact with. The ending gets a little bogged down with explanations and wrapping up the various characters' stories. But it's satisfying to see everything explode and then watch the pieces fall into place as they land.

Once it's ended, we get a 'second' ending with a mind-blowing revelation that begs for sequels. This second ending feels tacked on, so long-time Vorkosigan readers may be frustrated that the subject is given so little storyline, and new readers won't feel the full impact.

Certainly you can read this book and enjoy it without having read the previous ones. But, really, you should read CORDELIA'S HONOR and THE WARRIOR'S APPRENTICE to begin to understand this big universe Bujold has crafted.

Recommended Age: 12+
Language: A handful of instances.
Violence: Mild to moderate; but the medical procedures are more graphic than any violence. It's a YA friendly book, and having a 12-year-old PoV character may give it appeal to a wider audience.
Sex: None.

Enjoy some of her books (or parts of) for free online at her website including the first ten chapters of THE WARRIOR'S APPRENTICE where we meet Miles for the first time.

STARSHIP: FLAGSHIP is the fifth, and concluding, book in the STARSHIP series, which is an entry in the Birthright Universe. If you are not familiar with Mike Resnick, and his Birthright Universe, we'll give you a quick lesson. Resnick is as decorated as an author can be with almost 60 published novels, a couple hundred short stories, 30 or so Hugo nominations, and 5 of those which he has won. The guy knows his writing.

The Birthright Universe is a 20,000 year long story that encompasses Man's rise to Galactic adventures, and his subsequent fall. Ambitious doesn't even begin to describe the project Mr. Resnick is working on.

The STARSHIP series is a Space Opera about the final phases in the Republic stage of Man's Galactic experience, and the beginning of the Democracy. Rogue Naval officer, Wilson Cole, and his ship the Theodore Roosevelt, formerly of the Republic's Galactic Navy, take the stage for the telling of this story. In this final chapter of the STARSHIP series Cole and his extremely small group of revolutionaries square off against a Republic of 60,000+ worlds and a Navy of ships--most of which outclass even the Teddy R--in an attempt to overthrow the government. No small feat...or so one would think.

Our biggest complaint (of only a few candidates to be honest) was that this is an -or should be- impossible feat. Cole's rogue Navy has 800 ships, against 300+ million, almost all of which are outgunned, so obviously open military action is ruled out. Duh. Well what does that leave? Guerrilla warfare, a propaganda campaign, sabotage, etc., are the usual suspects. There is a problem with that. Cole only has a very small, but dedicated, group of supporters, against the population of the Republic. There's no way he could pull off a Galaxy-wide propaganda campaign against the most powerful government the Galaxy has seen. Yet, everything enfolds (with one minute, early exception) unbelievably easy. That sound you hear is us groaning every time Cole succeeds in outwitting the Republic. Remember, the Republic has the population of 60,000+ worlds. You mean to tell us that the leaders couldn't find JUST ONE PERSON who could see through Wilson Cole's deception? Puuuuh-lease! (In case you were curious, Steve did snap his fingers back-and-forth while saying "Puuuuh-lease." It added quite a bit to the presentation. We promise.)

Now, this isn't to say there isn't any tension. There was plenty as we approached the outcome of the series. But in reality, this is more of a testament to Mr. Resnick's ability to engage the reader with his writing and sweep them along. We really just wanted a disaster or two...but instead we were disappointed every time things slid so easily and effortlessly into place. The ending wasn't exactly what we expected, but the resolution of the book still came about with really no effort.

Speaking of the ending, the last 1/5th of the book came completely out of nowhere, with no foreshadowing whatsoever. It wasn't quite Deus Ex, and it was a satisfying read while keeping the pages turning. But, it was still ridiculously convenient, and truthfully, a bit sloppy. It was as if Resnick knew he had written himself into a corner and needed an out.

Another plot-based stumbling block, for us, has to do with the believability of the general population of the Republic, and their reactions to the events in the book. The issue we had, was that Wilson Cole orchestrated events that made the Republic do incredibly terrible things. However, despite Wilson Cole obviously being the source of these events, it made the Republic become a hated entity by the Galaxy. Then, when Cole and his team did the exact same things the Republic did, as far as the general population was concerned anyway, it made people hate the Republic even more, instead of Cole. It made no sense for things to unravel this way.

Resnick seemed to have the most fun with his characters. They are interesting, distinct, and clever. In fact there were more than a few moments we thought to ourselves, "Seriously guys? There is a war on, in case you didn't notice. Its time to quit with the witty banter." The dialog in so many places is very entertaining, but boils down to one-liners and quips. Even keeping that in mind, the characters feel...pretty full. This is really an incredible feat since Cole is our only PoV character, and other than him not many of the other characters get much in the way of screen-time.

We love the alien who thinks he is Charles Dickens' David Copperfield, and refers to the Captain as Steerforth. Brilliant idea Mr. Resnick. The Valkyrie is incredibly annoying. Every line she has involves some outburst of how she wants to kill someone, blow something up, fight war, not hide, etc. We got it Mr. Resnick, we got it. Wilson Cole, we think, is a superhero in disguise. Reading about him during this book is like watching a World Champion chess player pitted against a third grader. He manipulates events at every turn, and single-handedly outwits his enemies. (Mr. Resnick must have based his character on Nick...) Though this does come at a price, other than the obvious undermining of the tension. Easily half the chapters end the same way. Cole's crew trying to keep up with his mastermind plan, trying to guess what is going on, and then Cole having the last sentence in a chapter, and saying the exact opposite of what his crew surmised. Fun, if a bit formulaic and obviously intended for minor cliffhangers.

It should be difficult to review the book without commenting on the ethical/moral questions raised (for Nick anyway, because he loves to debate ethics and play the devil...err, devil's advocate), but, sadly, it isn't. The ethical question Mr. Resnick was obviously, and admittedly, trying to raise was about torture. When does harsh interrogation become torture, and is torture crossing the line. However, it was such a small (and like everything else in the book, quickly resolved) plot point in the middle that it was little more than a blip on the radar. We were pretty bummed about this.

Ok, we dealt with the obligatory quirks that we didn't like. But was there any good? How did we actually like the novel? This book, despite what we think are it's failings (and what book doesn't have them?) was actually ridiculously fun to read. Resnick has completely captured our attention and imagination. Give us more Birthright Universe please.

The plot, though requiring a heavy dose of suspension of disbelief, (Heavier than normal obviously. We ARE talking about SF after all.) was very enjoyable. There wasn't a single boring part, or paragraph we felt like skipping. All of the things that we had a hard time liking, actually serve the book in an awesome way. It makes the book quicker, light, and easily accessed, all while dealing with the expansive universe (which amounts to the single most ambitious project either of us have encountered), ethical concerns, and modern-day allusions. It is a perfect starting place--well, after reading the other 4 books of course--for newcomers to the Space Opera genre.

Should you read the book? It only takes 2-3 hours and is worth much more than that. The STARSHIP series is a fast-paced Space Opera that should be bumped to the top of your reading list if you're in the mood for some SF. If you're like us, and really if you're not get to work on that (because who wouldn't want to be?), after reading the STARSHIP series you will eagerly be heading to your local bookstore (or Amazon if you want to be more like Steve) and pick up his other works, such as STALKING THE VAMPIRE and STALKING THE DRAGON.

Other awesomeness about the book? Well Picacio did the covers and Pyr published them (with great quality mind you). Enough said.

RECOMMENDED AGE: 16 and up.
LANGUAGE: A few F words.
VIOLENCE: A discussion of torture, but no actual scenes or description of it. A couple laser blasts to the head, but as is the case with Space Opera, it is clean.
SEX: No scenes or acts, but plenty of references to the main character and his love interest sharing a bed.

Go check out Mike's website.
Picacio's blog.
And, of course, Pyr's website.

Tell them all how much you love them and us.