Target: Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch #1) and Ancillary Sword (Imperial Radch #2) Profile: Science Fiction, Space Opera The Imperial Radch series is a relatively simple little space opera, in the classic sense of the term. Spanning hundreds, if not thousands of years, multiple star systems and a variety of cultural influences, it’s a series firmly rooted in the tropes of its genre. While Ancillary Justice does wonderful things with those ideas and concepts, building a surprisingly compelling setting and cast, the series as […]
Princess Leia shows off her skillz.
Razor’s Edge is the first in a loose trilogy of books commissioned in the Star Wars Expanded Universe* designed to let bigger name sci-fi authors play around with the characters in this world, and also to spotlight each of the ‘Big Three’ in their own novels. Each novel can stand on its own, but they all take place in the time between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, after the destruction of the first Death Star. Razor’s Edge is Leia’s novel, and while I thought it […]
The Life and Times of a Sassy Space Captain
Sassinak by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Moon (1990) Two writers for the price of one! Or, since it’s three novellas, six for the price of one? This is an interesting read, mostly because of the first book (it’s split into three books). Sassy, or Sass, is a young colonial girl on a distant world who sees her family killed by slavers and is kidnapped, along with the other children. “Conditioned” to obey and kept under the worst conditions, the children are sold as slaves based on […]
English 101, Dreadnaught 0
Jack Campbell’s The Lost Fleet – Dreadnaught (1998) – My daughter (Bothari43) is right (as usual). It’s much harder to write a review of a bad book than a good one. I don’t even know where to begin with The Lost Fleet – Dreadnaught, the tenth book in a series of space operas by Jack Campbell. It looked like a book I’d love – lots of space weaponry, square-jawed heroes fighting aliens, stalwart teammates, and daring adventure. Unfortunately, the book was annoying from the start. […]