Customer Reviews

Grimspace (Sirantha Jax, Book 1)

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I'm not usually a sci fi reader. Call me a wuss, but whenever I would try to read sci fi, I usually got too distracted by all the sciencey stuff to remain focused on the story. But I had seen Grimspace advertised on a website and the cover caught my eye. At that point my reaction was about as intellectual as "Ooo, pretty colors..." but hey, attractive covers are a plus. Then the book caught my eye again, this time in the bookstore, and lo and behold, it sounded interesting. I figured, what the heck? What I didn't know at the time of purchase was that it's something called "romantic" sci fi. This left me a little worried; I wanted what was promised to me on the back of the book, not a romance novel with spaceships and lightsabers.

Starting out, I really wasn't sure what to make of it. I found Jax to be inconsistent as a character at first and hard to empathize with. There were little quirks of writing style that drove me crazy, like the incessant use of the word "frag" as a swear and Aguirre's habit of leaving off things like proper nouns from the start of a sentence. For example, you'd get "Could have seen it" rather than "I could have seen it". This became really fragg--er, really frustrating pretty quickly. But for all of that, I found it pretty easy to keep reading. Okay, I suffered a major WTF moment on the planet Lachion. You've got gobs of space open to you and you choose to colonize a planet with packs of man-eating flying dinosaurian creatures that can rip through the plate armor on vehicles and smell blood in the air from miles away? Why!? I think perhaps that taking time for a little bit more history of these sorts of places would be good, and I think Aguirre could manage it fine without bogging her story down.

So about halfway through I suddenly realize that I'm rather enjoying myself. A short time later I notice that I'm really enjoying myself. The book is fun and witty, and those little quirks that were annoying me either thinned out or became less noticeable (hard to tell in the middle of reading). You learn more about Jax, which makes her character come together at last, and she's remarkably easy to empathize with. Her thoughts are often selfish, her first instinct tends to be about what is good only for her, but I could understand where she was coming from after a while. She's an interesting protagonist with a lot of potential, I think.

Grimspace is light on things like technobabble and scientific info dumps, which keeps it from bogging down. And the romantic element really isn't a concern. It's far from being the main plot focus and though it gets a little bit obnoxious towards the end, it never comes close to consuming the whole novel (I think some of this feeling has to do with the first person POV, which makes it difficult to get across the perspective of other characters). Being far from savvy when it comes to science, though, and sci fi for that matter, I wanted the opinion of someone who was; my fiance, in this case. He didn't find the romance element to be obtrusive either and the science that was there was mostly sound (he did question what precisely these dinosaur creatures eat when human flesh is unavailable, since that wasn't mentioned. Which I have to admit is a pretty good point). So that's a pretty strong recommendation from someone who has a clue what they're talking about.

I personally was a bit concerned with the end. I found it seemed a bit too pat, too perfect, and I really hope it will be addressed in the second one. Even with the few misgivings I have, I'm looking forward to the second one a lot. Good thing it'll be out in September. You can already see the cover for it on Ms. Aguirre's site. Ooo, pretty...

Up front, lest I be accused of hiding it, I know Ann Aguirre. I happen to think she's fabulous and I talk to her pretty much daily via IM. I also happen to think she's a really gifted writer and I've thought so before I IM'd her all the time.

Anyway - Ann kindly sent me an early peek at Grimspace some months back and when I read it, it blew me away. It's one of those books what you look at and think, first person? Present tense? But it works. It conveys a sense of urgency, of breathlessness but every once in while it slows, tensing, making that pause sort of delicious before speeding up again. Aguirre's words are sharp and tensile and some of the passages are so gorgeous in their description that even alone they'd make Grimspace an above average read.

But there's more of course by way of a story well matched to the breathless manner in which Aguirre delivers it to the reader.

The first time in the book when Jax sits in her chair and she's describing how grimspace is indescrible? I was there. Aguirre leads me through as Jax prepares and then jumps. I'm now jumped into the book and the journey begins. I love science fiction and futuristics and I read across sub genres and authors but I tend toward the edgy sort of delivery you see with Gibson and Morgan and Grimspace has that. It's lush in places but the pace keeps it stark at the same time. I loved the action element as well as the romantic storyline. March is as well drawn as Jax, even through Jax's eyes and they're well matched on the page. There's a lot to March but he's like an iceburg character - much of what he is is below the surface and so we learn it slowly but surely.

There's something deliciously flawed in Sirantha Jax. Deeply wounded. Prickly, bitchy at times, defensive and guilt ridden. But you know why. You're in her head, no one holds her more accountable than she does herself. But there's a resilience in her. She tells herself she doesn't need anyone else but she does. She tells herself not to take a risk in reaching out but she does. I just really liked her.

Anyway, as you can tell, I dug Grimspace. I think it's a great mixture of action, emotion, romance with some startlingly wonderful and memorable characters.

Sirantha Jax is a jumper, an individual with a rare gene that allows her to access GRIMSPACE and therefore speed up space travel. She finds herself trapped in a psych unit cell, accused of somehow killing the entire crew of her last assigned ship. Everyone... including her pilot, lover, and friend, Kai. The bond between pilot and jumper is sacrosanct and Sirantha can't fathom how or why she would have caused such a crash. Unfortunately, she can't remember what went wrong. A man named March enters her cell and offers to rescue her. But what does he want in return? What will be the costs of this rescue?

Sirantha Jax is a great leading character. Her heart and motivations are fully bared for the reader to see her, faults and all. Who can't help but love her prickly attitude, her unwillingness to give up even when all common sense says it's over? Only a woman like Sirantha Jax could have survived that initial crash and the resulting imprisonment afterwards. It is a pleasure to read about such a strong female heroine.

GRIMSPACE is written entirely in the present tense. I had thought this would be distracting but instead it drew me further into the story. It was as if I was right there in the moment as each event occurred. Bravo, Ms. Aguirre for such a daring move!

Ann Aguirre does a phenomenal job at world building, creating several different worlds as Sirantha and March jump through GRIMSPACE. GRIMSPACE itself is well described as is each world they encounter. The details aren't so descriptive as to lose the momentum of the story but instead enhance the fast pace. Who didn't shiver when reading about the Teras or want to meet and cuddle with Baby Z? Ann Aguirre made the various worlds and their inhabitants spring to life.

GRIMSPACE is a fantastic entry into the science fiction genre. Ann Aguirre captures the nobleness of sacrifice beautifully. GRIMSPACE is highly recommended, even for those who aren't as thrilled by the science fiction genre as Ann Aguirre writes a story in which the emotional impact transcends the genre.

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

I thought this book was just ok. The author did do a good job of handling the present-tense writing style, though the present tense also allowed her to cop out on some of the building blocks that are usually required for a good setup and background.

This book was more relationship/romance than science-fiction, and the science wasn't very convincing - more like current technology plus space ships and a couple of gadgets. Random alien races would appear, and since the book was in present-tense, they didn't really get explained, just accepted and we moved on. Our heroine also seemed singularly out of touch with even extremely high profile world/universe events that had occurred during her lifetime. Overall, the book was a chaotic series of vignettes with no solid base to rest on. It was interesting for that, but I don't think I'll be buying the next one.

If you prefer harder science fiction - a hint of reality, this book is going to annoy you. It is basically a bodice ripper set in space. It features a planet that is an ice desert, but it is populated with millions of invisible flying meat hunters strong enough to tear surface vehicles apart, and they are drawn to the scent of human blood. What do you suppose they ate during the eons before humans first got to the planet ? Ice crystals ? There is a gorgeous sexy space pirate. There are coldblooded amphibian hatchlings that happily imprint on and can be raised by humans. They have instant communications over interstellar distances, like cell phones, but do not seem to have any power requirements. They crash-land their spaceship on the mud planet, but Dina the fixit lady is able to repair it with a bobby pin or her bare hands.
I would have given it 1 star except the personalities were clear, distinct and different, if a little exaggerated.

Grimspace is a fun, enjoyable space opera with some gritty, likeable, but flawed characters.

The protagonist, Sirantha Jax, is a jumper. She has a rare gene that allows her to navigate in Grimspace - which is essentially wormholes that can move spaceships massive distances in one jump. The story starts with her accused, and actually believing, that she somehow intentionally caused a crash that killed her entire crew plus ambassadors and other dignitaries. She is confined to a mental ward wondering what happened, and why, when along comes March who either abducts her or rescues her - at the time she is not sure which. March is part of a underground group trying to break the monopoly on traveling through Grimspace from the Farwan Corporation, which turns out to be a multiuniversal (as opposed to multinational) corporation that essentially operates as the government of a very large segment of habitable space - and is able to do so because it controls all movement in Grimspace. Jax is a key to breaking this monopoly because March's group is trying to replicate the gene, possibly even in non-human sentient species, that allows pilots to navigate through Grimspace. Once Jax escapes, the wild chase is on while the Corp tries to hunt her down and March's group is trying to evade the Corp and carry out their plans to break the Corp's monopoly on Grimspace.

There is a lot to like about this novel. First, Sirantha Jax is a great character, as are March and the rest of his group. They are well thought out characters with both commendable traits but serious flaws as well. Second, it is a fairly fast paced novel with a good plot, lots of action, and interesting interactions between the characters. Third, the author also does a good job of world building, providing the backdrop in which the novel takes place. And finally, the few alien species introduced in the novel are unique and interesting.

A few things I didn't care for in the novel - in one section Sirantha, March and crew enter a sector of space called Hon-Durren's Kingdom, which is outside the control of the Corp. Hon is essentially a pirate and a very nefarious character, but he is also very much a caricature and not unique or different than any other villain I've read in novels such as this or seen in movies. As well as the other characters in the novel are done, this was a little jarring. Secondly, while I didn't mind it all that much, the ending was a real fast bang, slam we're done with many things happening at once. It almost seemed like the author got tired of writing the novel and dumped the ending on the reader. But at the same time, the ending made sense and well done otherwise. And finally, while it does mostly move fast, the action dragged in small parts.

So, overall I liked this novel, but didn't love it. But if I see a sequel or another story by this author, I will definitely read it.

"Grimspace" is a sci-fi novel, centering on J--. J-- is the "eyes" for a spaceship, a job requiring rare genetics, a small amount of training, and mind-to-mind contact with the pilot. She starts the novel in jail, accused of crashing a spaceship (massive casualties). A closed-mouthed group breaks her out of jail, and brings her to their compound. They have a bold plan, and need J--'s expertise to make it work. This fast-paced journey (about 1/3 of the book) includes lots of combat and unexpected troubles.

J-- swears constantly and has the steriotypical personality of someone who swears that much: poor education, impulsive, poor interpersonal skills. The universe has some creative ideas, but is riddled with are a whole bunch of things that make no sense. For example, the genetic makeup for J--'s job are rare, and the job usually fatal in 10 years, so they ... recruit teenagers ... before they have families ... to make sure the rare genetics aren't passed on to any kids. Hunh? Also, we are told repeatedly that J--'s previous job included first-contact with aliens, because she has good people-skills, yet her actions in the book at no time exhibit even a basic knowledge of how to make friends. Not to mention, first-contact is obviously high-risk, and if she got killed, everyone on the spaceship would be stranded there forever. On those contradictions, I suggest you suspend disbelief. The action is fast paced and reasonably exciting. The writing quality is pretty good.

My problem with this novel is that everyone, EVERYONE, is unlikeable. The people who rescue J-- blame her for every bad event that occurs in the first 1/3 of the book, despite her having no fault whatsoever in any of them. They are the "bite your nose off to spite your face" sort who don't warn J-- about the obvious dangers inherent to their homeland, and then blame her (???) when her ignorant actions help to attract a monster (who would have attacked anyway, due to their actions). Everyone we meet is nasy and hostile: to J-- and to each other. About 2/3 of the way through the book, one person says something nice to J--; she is stunned and so was I. After about 1/3 of the book, I decided that if J-- and everyone else was killed off, I wouldn't care.

Sirantha Jax is in love with the sound of her own name, repeating it over and over again, while narrating her angry bumbling story in an obnoxious first-person present-tense style. Beyond the main character's narcissism, she's an arrogant, mean, foul-mouthed, small-minded, jerk, truly one of the most unlikable main characters I've encountered in quite some time. I imagine she's supposed to come off as headstrong and self-confident, but she's dumb and angry, not a good combination.

Other characters include March, a psionic peeping tom; Dina, the token minority, complete with bad attitude and short-sightedness; Saul, the near non-entity doctor; and Loras, a useless waste of space. There isn't a single person in this book who is likable in any way that has any significance in the story.

As for the story itself, there's not much to it either. There are women who have some gene, allowing them to navigate hyperspace. No explanation as to why seems to come up, it just is. Men are pilots. A lot of sex takes place between them. That's the way it is, until the women fizzle out and die in jump. Okay. The rest involves Sirantha Jax and the above mentioned characters attempting to start their own stable of Special Women Who Have Some Gene, in order to break up an interstellar monopoly on jump travel. Add to that swearing, petty meanness, Sirantha Jax, poor descriptions, a deceptively good ship disguised as a beater, Sirantha Jax, a universe that doesn't add up to something capable of functioning, frog babies, Sirantha Jax, and Sirantha Jax, you're left with a nasty taste in your mouth. It would have been best if Sirantha Jax just stayed in the loonie bin to save the world at large from Sirantha Jax.

Ann Aguirre has taken a book like Grimspace and made it a masterpiece of Sci-fi literature. If you are a fan of space travel, Star Wars like action and a heroine who is very original and simply an amazing character overall, I urge you to pick up Grimspace. It might just be one of the best reads of 2008 and the character for Jax, Aguirre's heroine will be talked about for a long time.
Sirantha Jax has a special gene that lets her jump thought space and time. The first page introduces us to her as she is in jail responsible for killing her captain and all the passengers on her ship. She has no clue what has happened and thinks she has no way out and will probably be dead in a few days.
But a savior comes to her. His name is March and he needs her help. She has no other option and goes off with him even though he may want to kill her after he is done with her. Jax is now on another perilous journey where she is to out of the loop, on the run from the law and no one to trust. As she jumps, she puts her total trust in March who is not what he seems.
Linnea Sinclair fans will also want to jump on the Ann Aguirre bandwagon. And if you have read Sinclair's books in the past, well you know what Aguirre's Grimspace will be like. It is everything you want in a book in general. I found myself on the edge of my seat wondering if Jax will come out alive. Plus, there is a nice romance between her and March that shouldn't disappoint.
This is the first book in this new on-going series. Hands down a most excellent book and once of the best for the year 2008.
Welcome to a new author who has written an edgy and exciting space travel book, and of course a great unfinished romance.

Katiebabs

Thanks to carrying a rare J-gene, Sirantha Jax has the ability to pilot ships through grimspace, an essential and valuable talent in the days of space travel. However, it only takes one failure and being the only one to survive it to land her in jail, subjected to torture on multiple levels. Her ticket out comes when an idealistic group busts her free and she finds herself pressed into service for them. Yet, gradually, Jax finds her place among the rag-tag family, even discovering love. There is risk, though. With each jump, she edges closer to burning out, to dying. Jax has to make some tough choices about her future, ones that will affect more than her for the first time in her life.

**** Fans of Anne McCaffrey's space sagas, or to some extent, her Crystal Singer books, will want this as part of their library. The world-building process has meticulously created a plausible galaxy that explains itself as it goes along. Discovering more about the ensemble cast that Jax is the lead player for should prove fascinating, especially with regards to the enigmatic Doc. ****

Amanda Killgore for Huntress Reviews