10 posts tagged “ann aguirre”
Doubleblind is the third book in the Sirantha Jax series:
Book 1: Grimspace (review: LJ | vox)
Book 2: Wanderlust (review: LJ | vox)
The Premise: Sirantha Jax is finally on Ithiss-Tor, feeling way over her head as an ambassador for the Conglomerate. The Conglomerate needs her to bring the bug-like aliens, the Ithtorians to their side because they need an ally against increased attacks by the Morgut (a species of violent, frenzied eaters that see everyone as food). The Ithtorians are the only species the Morgut have ever respected. A "jumper" and former party-girl, Jax doesn't feel in her element as someone responsible for such an important task, and March, who has always been at her side isn't himself to help her.
Excerpt of Chapter 1
My Thoughts: I would have finished this much faster if it weren't for those pesky things like parents coming to visit, going to work, eating, sleeping, blah blah. All I wanted to do was read this book. I love space opera and science fiction romance. This is one of my favorite series. I think I've been anticipating it so much that by the time I got it I was getting lightheaded with giddiness and enthusiasm and I had a feeling that perhaps I was talking too much about it. You know that feeling where - internally you're saying to yourself, why are you still talking, you idiot, now they know you're crazy and Ann Aguirre will run away from you?! Yes, that was me on twitter this week. Ahem. So instead of doing what I briefly considered (just writing "SQUEE" in big, bold, underlined letters as a review), I'm going to try to be rational.
The thing is, it is so hard to stay quiet while reading this book, because there's these elements you just want to talk to *someone* about. For me it was character development and the twists in the plot. I think Ann Aguirre has an evil streak. First of all, she wrote Wanderlust and ended it the way she did Iif you read Wanderlust, you know what I mean). What she puts her characters through has me looking around desperately for someone so I can discuss what I just read.
First of all, you would think that by now, the third book, March and Jax's relationship would be stable. But Aguirre did something that was the equivalent of pressing the "reset" button, and it is delicious. Neither March or Jax are the same people they were at the start of this series. In fact, I'd say that what they've been through has pretty much reversed their roles, although their old selves are in there somewhere. The first half of the book had me hanging on to every word or gesture between the two of them. I kept saying "intense", because that was the word to describe it (besides "AHHH!!"). It was kind of torture, yet I was happy. It was well worth going through the wringer in Wanderlust and here to come out the other side. There was one particular scene early in the book where March and Jax talk that had me completely involved and.. well I just don't have the words.
Aguirre seems to excel at character growth. Since we're on Vel's home planet and diplomacy is the reason for being there, Vel has the biggest role besides Jax, who is the narrator. I was really interested in finding out more about Vel in Wanderlust so I was pleased with learning more about him through Jax. The others were around less often (they weren't needed for all the negotiations that Jax attended), but everyone in Jax's circle is multi-faceted, and you catch a glimpse of inner depth in Jael, Dina, Hit, and Doc. If you're familiar with Ann Aguirre, you know these aren't always happy people either. Jax has a past full of scandal and self-preservation, and March is a psychic and soldier who had to do horrible things.
One of my favorite tropes is a stranger in a strange land or a culture-clash story, which we have here as Jax navigates the Ithtorians, some of who don't consider humans very smart. They remember an earlier delegation which had disastrous results. There are many Ithtorians who would like Jax to fail in her talks, even enough to kill her. That's why Vel is so important, explaining to Jax subtle gestures such as meaning to a bow. The story also covers what foods to eat, what markings on caripaces mean, and Ithtorian politics. I loved this. I also liked the description of the lush, tropical world the Ithtorians' surrounded themselves in, which is nicely illustrated on the cover by Scott M. Fischer.
Overall: The best installment yet. If you read Wanderlust, you really *need* to read Doubleblind. And if you haven't read this series and you like space opera/science fiction romance, I think you should pick it up. Every successive book is better than the last.
Buy: Amazon | B&N
Other review:
Genrereviews gave it 4 1/2 pints of blood (I thought this review was spot on).
Just a quick post here:
I'm a big Ann Aguirre fangirl and every time I hear news about any of her new books I'm all a-tizzy. So I wanted to point out that over the weekend ocelott has put up the very first review anywhere of Doubleblind. She says:
"if you haven't read the previous two books, here there be spoilers. If, however, you've glommed the first two and are waiting impatiently for Doubleblind to release, you're safe. I give out no plot twists."
And with that- - the Doubleblind review is here
I am looking forward to this one because I kind of have a thing for the "ambassador in a strange land/world" trope. Love it.
There's a whole BUNCH of new books coming out today. Sci Fi Guy posted June releases on his website and about 80% of the books there I want to read. Which is so bad when I just hauled back 40 some books from BEA. I have the sickness.
Amongst the list (coming out June 23rd) is Diana Rowland's debut The Mark of the Demon. I'm currently reading it and it is GOOD. Also - the cover is really gorgeous - I gasped aloud when I saw the coverflat. Seriously - it has shiney patterns on it and I am mesmerized by it's beauty.
The book I'm FOR SURE going to get this week is Ilona Andrew's Silent Blade which just became available from Saimhain today. I'm all over it. It's a short story and costs just $2.50. It will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine.
Ann Aguirre posted the Doubleblind cover up on her website yesterday. Isn't it PRETTY? I really like it. She also posted a blurb:
"It’s not easy to tread lightly wearing steel-toed boots.
Sirantha Jax isn’t known for diplomatic finesse. As a “Jumper” who navigates ships through grimspace, she’s used to kicking ass first and taking names later—much later. Not exactly the obvious choice to sell the Conglomerate to the Ithtorians, a people whose opinions of humans are as hard as their exoskeletons.
And Ithiss-Tor council meetings aren’t the only place where Ambassador Jax needs to maneuver carefully. Her lover, March, is frozen in permanent “kill” mode, and his hair-trigger threatens to sabotage the talks—not to mention their relationship.
But Jax won’t give up on the man or the mission. With the Outskirts beleaguered by raiders, pirates, and the flesh-eating Morgut, an alliance with Ithiss-Tor may be humanity’s only hope. Which has Jax wondering why a notorious troublemaker like her was given the job…"
This book comes out in October September 29th, 2009. I'm now going to update my wishlist since I somehow missed this one. Ann will also be in the anthology The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2, which I also have to look out for.
A lot of people are posting a year end post for 2008. It's nice to see people looking back at the books they read for the year and picking out their favorite reads, and it's interesting to see what they picked. I thought it would be a good thing to try myself because with it recorded, I can look back in later years and see what my tastes were like.
Out of a total of 77 books read this year, very few got into my best list, but book ratings are highly subjective. I just went with my gut and rated them according to how I felt about the book as soon as I finished reading them. These lists are compiled from ratings I put down in my private notes.
All the links to my reviews here are to my Livejournal.
The Books that Blew Me Away - These books are those I gave top marks to when I first read them. It's a very hard list to get onto because I have to feel like I'm falling in love and cannot be parted from the book for it to get on this list. Only three got on it this year.
- Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews (my review)
- Pride, Prejudice, and Jasmine Fields by Melissa Nathan (my review)
- Keeping it Real by Justina Robson (my review pt 1, pt 2)
Books that Came Close to Blowing Me Away - These came very close to getting top marks from me. This is a personal thing, but the books above I would put down and then obssessively think about when I could pick them up again. The books below, I didn't feel as consumed by the book, but still felt really impressed by them.
- Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair (my review)
- Wicked Game by Jeri Smith-Ready (my review)
- Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (I need to review this when I have the book in my hands)
- The Outback Stars by Sandra McDonald (review coming soon)
Books I Really Liked/ Keepers. These each had several moments where I loved the book and overall I think these are books that deserve to be loved and read by others, but for some reason or other these didn't get into the top 7. I still consider these keepers, and all these authors are pretty much autobuys/ must read backlist authors. There are 19 of these books this year (Linnea Sinclair's name comes up a lot here, I was reading her backlist in 2008):
- The Down Home Zombie Blues by Linnea Sinclair (my review)
- Exit Strategy (Nadia Stafford, Bk 1) by Kelley Armstrong (my review)
- Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas (my review)
- Grimspace by Ann Aguirre (my review)
- An Accidental Goddess by Linnea Sinclair (my review)
- Urban Shaman by C. E. Murphy (my review)
- Wanderlust by Ann Aguirre (my review)
- Cry Wolf (Alpha and Omega, Bk 1) by Patricia Briggs (my review)
- Easy Freedom by Liz Berry (my review)
- Jinx by Jennifer Estep (my review)
- Finders Keepers by Linnea Sinclair (my review)
- Gabriel's Ghost by Linnea Sinclair (my review pt 1, pt 2)
- The Good Neighbors by Holly Black (my review)
- The Nanny by Melissa Nathan (my review)
- Grave Sight (Harper Connelly, Bk 1) by Charlaine Harris (my review)
- Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler (my review)
- Burndive by Karin Lowachee (my review)
- An Ice Cold Grave (Harper Connelly, Bk 3) by Charlaine Harris (my review)
- The Decoy Princess and Princess at Sea by Dawn Cook (my review)
And for my New Year's Resolution - it's the same resolution as last year , to read 100 books.
- 2006 - 103 books
- 2007 - 99 books
- 2008 - 77 books
- 2009 - let's get it back up to 100!!
1) Book Blogger Appreciation week is reving up at My Friend Amy's blog. This is for book bloggers - "Think of it as a retreat for book bloggers and a chance for us to totally nerd out over books together. And of course, shower each other with love and appreciation." There's also contests for readers too, so worth checking out if you're not a book blogger too.
This week nominations are starting for your favorite book blogs in a variety of categories. I'm planning to vote.
And there's a couple of giveaways related to books I've reviewed:
2) Ann Aguirre has a contest on her blog where the prize is a $200 gift certificate to the bookstore of your choice - just buy a copy of Wanderlust and prove you've bought it. I've posted a review of this book before and recommend it. My review is here - vox | livejournal. The review of the first book in the series Grimspace, is here: vox | livejournal.
3) There's also a contest at book binge - win 7 shomi novels! I like the idea of this line. It's relatively new and it has a focus on futuristics with plenty of action and a little bit of romance. I've read:
- Wired by Liz Maverick (link to my review: vox / livejournal)
- Driven by Eve Kenin (link to my review: vox / livejournal)
- Hidden by Eve Kenin (link to my review: vox / livejournal)
Of those three I'd say I enjoyed Driven the most. There are other titles out that I haven't had a chance to read yet. I've been eyeing Countdown by Michelle Maddox and Netherwood by Michele Lang.
To enter:
Leave a comment, or post on your own blog and Shomi a link, telling me what Shomi novels you've read or are interested in reading before midnight, Saturday August 30th and you'll be entered to win a major Shomi Prize package.
This contest is open to all (not just U.S. and Canada).
It's eight days to my wedding - which is on 08/08/08. To make everyone participate in the mix of anticipation and dread (haha), I've decided to have a giveaway. If things go well with this, I'm probably going to continue. I've given books to people before, just not in any kind of contest, but I enjoy entering other people's giveaways, so let's spread the fun.
Prize
1. $20 dollar e-certificate to Barnes and Noble (I figure this makes things a bit easier for non-US participants)
2. Your choice of a paperback book from one of the authors in the list below. It has to be currently in print (you can ask for Wanderlust too, just expect to wait a bit until it comes out in order to get it).
Some authors in urban fantasy/futuristic/space opera that tickle me
Linnea Sinclair
Wen Spencer
Ann Aguirre
Ilona Andrews
Patricia Briggs
Eve Kenin
Michelle Sagara
Jocelynn Drake
What you have to do
Just comment with your name here on vox or on my LJ (janicu.livejournal.com) by midnight EST on 08/08/08. Anyone on the planet who amazon/bn ships to can enter. If you spread the word and post a link of where you spread the word, you get two entries in this contest (cause - this blog has um... about 5 readers).
I'll probably be recovering from the wedding so likely won't pick winners till 8/11/08. I'll try to be earlier. We'll see how it goes.
This is book 2 of the Sirantha Jax series, book 1 is Grimspace, which I reviewed here.
In this series, our flawed heroine Jax is a jumper, someone with a special j-gene that allows her to navigate ships through grimspace. As with all jumpers she's addicted to the thrill of grimspace but knows that her life expenctancy is low - her next jump could fry her mind and be her last. This has made her rather devil-may-care and self-serving until she is the sole survivor in a horrific crash, and March finds her under arrest by the Corp.
In Wanderlust, Jax is past much of the problems she dealt with in Grimspace, but, as her luck would have it, she runs into another set. Now she discovers that because she was briefly declared dead, this lead to her accounts being frozen and right now she's broke. This means she needs a job, and what's being offered is an ambassadorship to Ithiss-Tor. That's the planet Vel, her would-be assassin-turned-friend came from - where the inhabitants are human-sized insects that can produce a camoflage layer of skin to blend into other societies. Jax and her motley group of friends decide to take the job, but there are other groups around them with hidden agendas. Some want Jax to go and do a good job, some want her to go and fail spectacularly, and some just want to kill her. Action and space opera ensues!
I found a good review of this book, which I agreed with (that also has more detail about the plot, so don't click if you don't want to know) , here at LJ's genrereviews community.
Overall, I found that this book was slower-paced than Grimspace in a good way. Things feel like they take the right amount of time. I don't think the story needs to have constant action, and it was good to have some lulls (resting between battles, a non-eventful space trip once in a while, more planning, more quiet moments). There is still plenty going on of course, lots of suspense and action, its just not all of the book. This was a good thing.
Besides Vel, March, and Dina who were introduced in Grimspace , a couple new people join their crew - Hit, a skilled fighter and pilot, and Jael, an ex-mercenary. Both with complicated pasts, as with everyone in Jax's circle. Hit and Dina get along very well, and there are hints at a blossoming relationship between the two women - I really liked how this was written - like they fit together easily, without much fuss or fanfare, but still it seems like something special. Meanwhile March and Jax's relationship continues to evolve, and it's not easy for them. Aguirre throws an interesting wrench into things, and I'm waiting to see how it gets resolved in later books. I've been quite pleased with the writing in terms of the snappy dialog between people, and the growing friendships in the crew. The characters in the book all intruiged me, not just Jax and March. Even Jax's personal assistant 245 interested me! So - I felt totally satisfied after reading this book because - I still want to know what happens next, which is what you want to have when you know there's another book coming along. And I think my interest will probably last until the next book comes out. Plus, it felt like a great escape to read the book. Good space opera fun.
Wanderlust comes out on August 26th, 2008.
Here's an excerpt.
Book 3 and 4 are contracted and tentatively (?) will be called Doubleblind and Killbox. I believe there is going to be a book 5, but that has no title yet.
Aguirre also has an urban fantasy series in the works, about a woman who finds missing people with her ability to touch things and know what it's history is. The first book is Blue Diablo and is out April 7th, 2009, and book 2 is Hell Fire, which comes out sometime at the end of 2009.
I think I entered all possible contests for this book, but in the end I bought it (TBR.. um.. 135, not getting smaller). Grimspace is actually the first book in a series, but the story is self contained. This is a book that falls under the science fiction romance category. If you like Linnea Sinclair you may like Ann Aguirre too. Actually, I think Sinclair is one of her beta readers from the acknowledgments I read.
The main character Sirantha Jax is a jumper - someone with a rare J-gene, that allows her to "jack into grimspace" and with a pilot, send a spaceship through a hyperspace jump. At the start of this novel Sirantha finds herself confined and under surveillance by the Corp after a horrific accident which has killed everyone on her ship but herself. The Corp seems to think that Sirantha made a mistake, and she may go to trial for it. Meanwhile, she also feels worried about her sanity (J-gene carriers are known for frying their minds). In steps March, who offers to break her out of her prison - telling her it's either escape or let the Corp break her with their therapy ("They don't want to know what happened; they just want to ensure you're in no condition to talk about it. Ever."). In order to escape March has to replace Jax's dead pilot - which is the equivalent to a forced marriage according to Jax - because in grimspace the jumper and their pilot become so in tune they are practically one person. Once Jax escapes she gets caught up in whatever March is up to and much space action stuff ensues.
Lazy bullet time:
- Overall very enjoyable and addictive to read. It delivers what I wanted, which was action, space stuff and some romance.
- Each chapter reminds me like a chapter in a Nancy Drew mystery - it tends to end on a "dun dun dun!" note. I thought this habit was a bit odd, not really bothersome, just wasn't sure why it was that way. Also each chapter ended up being very short - there are 53 chapters in all, so I guess you can say there were a lot of - oh what happens next? moments. Lots of action going on.
- Although I said this reminded me of a Linnea Sinclair novel, the writing is very different. There is a lot more grit in this - more death, more grey areas, especially with the heroine - she's not always a good person. She would rather look after herself first, while March wants to save everyone. This was interesting.
- The book ends with a definite conclusion and it feels like a stand alone, but there is a larger story arc you catch a glimpse of, and so I can see where the author could continue. I'm glad that it does because I think I did say after I finished this - "There should be more" and I double checked and there was. Ann Agguire's website says book 2 is Wanderlust (August 2008), which will be followed by Doubleblind and Killbox. Sounds cool. I do like the covers so far too.
- A lot of interesting secondary characters make appearances. Some of them do not stay around for long. They may show up in later books. Some of them I wish I got to know better before they disappeared.
- There was an interesting bit about assassins in this that I really want to be followed up on in book 2. Really do.
- There was a creepy Jurassic Park bit in this too. Guess I can't say much beyond that without spoiling.
- A couple of times the banter incited a laugh out of me (the baby z bit).
- Excerpt of Grimspace. Excerpt of Wanderlust.
I usually don't enter the contests that ask you to post something to your blog, but the prizes for this one are pretty sweet, the book looks like something I would read (um.. I've been reading a lot of girls kicking butt in outer space books this month, could this be an addiction?), and the quiz is amusing so:
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I got "JUMPER" as my result. Which makes me look very exciting but I'm thinking - really I don't feel exciting: "Grimspace navigator? Dude, you're like interstellar royalty. You're charismatic and possess a forceful personality. You're used to having power and you don't hesitate to use it. You also love to take risks. If it has danger attached, you're first in line, and no, you're not wearing a safety helmet. You live for the thrills, don't care about life expectancy, and expect to go out with a bang. "
Anyone who knows me - does this look right? HA. I think not. Except for the powerful bit. That sounds right. :P And charismatic. Yeah.
Info on this contest and the prizes here.
ETA - Ahhh, stupid HTML.
