dreamerfreak's review
4.0
I probably wasn't in the best state of mind to read this, because I'm exhausted this week, and Perihelion has a fairly intricate political plot. If I'm being honest, I'm sure a lot of it went over my head, because I was too tired to be paying that close of attention, but I'm positive I will be re-reading this at some point and can enjoy all those details I missed before. I do wish we could have seen a bit more of Mas'ud and Kato interacting as a romanctic couple, but I felt satisfied, and honestly, the ending seemed very open to continuation. (Hopeful puppy eyes?)
And can I just throw out there how much I appreciated the author including, and without trying to justify or explain, all sorts of genders? Bravo, Ms. Veldura. Well done.
And can I just throw out there how much I appreciated the author including, and without trying to justify or explain, all sorts of genders? Bravo, Ms. Veldura. Well done.
colleen_m's review
4.0
My enjoyment - about 3 stars. The technical quality - about 5 stars.
Queenships are sentient spaceships. They have thoughts, emotions, free will - but no direction. So they choose pilots - not to steer them, but to basically mind meld with them. Kato Ozark is chosen by Selvans... what is unusual is that Selvans also chooses Mas'ud, an engineer with no training as a pilot. The two have to navigate this unheard of situation, along with rising tensions from political forces.
My main issue was this was a difficult world to follow in such a short page span - there could have been a lot more explanation up front on what was going on. For a while I couldn't tell who the hell was a ship and who was a human. The political intrigue part was over my head - again, it took me a while to figure out who was the 'bad' guy.
I did think what we saw of Mas'ud and Kato's relationship was beautiful - but a lot of their building was actually in their minds - since they could link through their queenship. It made for a simultaneously deep connection, but one that the reader didn't necessarily get a grasp of.
Queenships are sentient spaceships. They have thoughts, emotions, free will - but no direction. So they choose pilots - not to steer them, but to basically mind meld with them. Kato Ozark is chosen by Selvans... what is unusual is that Selvans also chooses Mas'ud, an engineer with no training as a pilot. The two have to navigate this unheard of situation, along with rising tensions from political forces.
My main issue was this was a difficult world to follow in such a short page span - there could have been a lot more explanation up front on what was going on. For a while I couldn't tell who the hell was a ship and who was a human. The political intrigue part was over my head - again, it took me a while to figure out who was the 'bad' guy.
I did think what we saw of Mas'ud and Kato's relationship was beautiful - but a lot of their building was actually in their minds - since they could link through their queenship. It made for a simultaneously deep connection, but one that the reader didn't necessarily get a grasp of.
suze_1624's review
3.0
Now scifi is not a favoured genre and for me to fully get into it, the story has to be an 'ordinary' story just set in space - and this amazing piece of imaginative writing was very far from my comfort zone. So far I must have warped there!
I'm also not very good at chess so an intergalactic chess match was not going to hook me in. The number of new families, queenships, pilots etc made it tricky for me to keep straight in my head who was allied to who - I think a nice shiny website would do the trick!!
I was imagining the USS Enterprise crossed with starfighters crossed with starship troopers! I was invested in Kato (though Inspector Clouseau kept coming to mind) and Mas'ud and Selvans and the link they shared, though at times it did get a bit beyond me.
So great writing, perhaps too much info for my little mind but I'm sure big sci fi fans will love it
I'm also not very good at chess so an intergalactic chess match was not going to hook me in. The number of new families, queenships, pilots etc made it tricky for me to keep straight in my head who was allied to who - I think a nice shiny website would do the trick!!
I was imagining the USS Enterprise crossed with starfighters crossed with starship troopers! I was invested in Kato (though Inspector Clouseau kept coming to mind) and Mas'ud and Selvans and the link they shared, though at times it did get a bit beyond me.
So great writing, perhaps too much info for my little mind but I'm sure big sci fi fans will love it
iam's review against another edition
5.0
Sentinent Spaceships? ✔
Entangled political machinations? ✔
LGBTQIA+ SciFi setting? ✔
FUCK YES!
This was AMAZING!!!
Technically flawed in many ways, but I still loved it.
It's your typical SciFi universe, but with an actual diverse cast - there's a huge range of ethnicities and gender identities, the main characters are African-American and Persian, one of them is trans. The countless side-POV characters include Navajo, Chinese, Lithuanian, genderfluid, nullgender, bigender, to name a few.
What's a bit confusing is said POV-jumping. It's written in relatively short chapters, each written from a different POV, though it keeps returning to the two MCs and choice side-characters, which leads to the characters barely being introduced before the POV switches again.
Another confusing thing is the setting, especially in the beginning. There's barely any explanations about the technologies, the politcis or how this future works - there is a glossary, which sadly is full of spoilers.
Which brings me to what bothers me most - the book's blurb is TERRIBLE. It spoils basically the entire plot save for the very end. I enjoyed reading this, but I would have enjoyed it EVEN MORE if I hadn't been spoiled.
So if you're interested in reading this but hate spoilers as I do, DON'T READ THE BLURB. If you still want to know what Perihelion is about:
Thousands of years in the future, humankind has expanded through space. Power lies in the hand of seven families through military, political or economic means, some of which have a technology called Queenships. Queenships are huge space ships/stations that are part metal, part membrane, part crystal, which are self-aware. Still, a Queenship needs a pilot with who she (Queenships are female) shares an intimate mental connection that expands the pilot's mind.
When a new Queenship is birthed, she chooses her pilot - and the newborn Selvans choses not one pilot, but two: Kato, a high ranked official well-versed in politics and military tactics, and Mas'ud, an extremely talented engineer. But as the two of them figure out what it means to share pilotship and their minds not only with their Queenship, but also with each other, other forces - both hostile and not - are completing and forming their own machinations.
The plot, setting and cast could have easily given the book three times the pages it has - that, combined with the short chapters and many characters, sadly makes it hard to connect with said characters. It's clearly the first part of a series. The ending is a bit unsatisfying and there are so many open and blossoming plotthreads... I'm looking forward to reading more of this.
Overall probably closer to 4 stars than 5, but I fell so in love with it that I'm gonna give 5 despite the flaws.
Entangled political machinations? ✔
LGBTQIA+ SciFi setting? ✔
FUCK YES!
This was AMAZING!!!
Technically flawed in many ways, but I still loved it.
It's your typical SciFi universe, but with an actual diverse cast - there's a huge range of ethnicities and gender identities, the main characters are African-American and Persian, one of them is trans. The countless side-POV characters include Navajo, Chinese, Lithuanian, genderfluid, nullgender, bigender, to name a few.
What's a bit confusing is said POV-jumping. It's written in relatively short chapters, each written from a different POV, though it keeps returning to the two MCs and choice side-characters, which leads to the characters barely being introduced before the POV switches again.
Another confusing thing is the setting, especially in the beginning. There's barely any explanations about the technologies, the politcis or how this future works - there is a glossary, which sadly is full of spoilers.
Which brings me to what bothers me most - the book's blurb is TERRIBLE. It spoils basically the entire plot save for the very end. I enjoyed reading this, but I would have enjoyed it EVEN MORE if I hadn't been spoiled.
So if you're interested in reading this but hate spoilers as I do, DON'T READ THE BLURB. If you still want to know what Perihelion is about:
Thousands of years in the future, humankind has expanded through space. Power lies in the hand of seven families through military, political or economic means, some of which have a technology called Queenships. Queenships are huge space ships/stations that are part metal, part membrane, part crystal, which are self-aware. Still, a Queenship needs a pilot with who she (Queenships are female) shares an intimate mental connection that expands the pilot's mind.
When a new Queenship is birthed, she chooses her pilot - and the newborn Selvans choses not one pilot, but two: Kato, a high ranked official well-versed in politics and military tactics, and Mas'ud, an extremely talented engineer. But as the two of them figure out what it means to share pilotship and their minds not only with their Queenship, but also with each other, other forces - both hostile and not - are completing and forming their own machinations.
The plot, setting and cast could have easily given the book three times the pages it has - that, combined with the short chapters and many characters, sadly makes it hard to connect with said characters. It's clearly the first part of a series. The ending is a bit unsatisfying and there are so many open and blossoming plotthreads... I'm looking forward to reading more of this.
Overall probably closer to 4 stars than 5, but I fell so in love with it that I'm gonna give 5 despite the flaws.
sashastorylover's review
DNF @ 30%
I am starting new year by implementing the golden rule of “DNF the book you don’t want to read”.
I tried, but this book just didn’t work for me. I came back home and I was literally bracing myself to read the book. Why bother?
Exactly. So I’m dropping the book like hot potatoes.
The book is messy and confusing and convoluted. The narration introduces all of this world-building elements, dozen of new characters, some kind of political and economic machinations in a span of 30 pages without bothering to pause and explain. I was confused and annoyed and it’s a very unpleasant reading experience. The book is also not divided into chapters. There are pov breaks but it feels like a stream of narration.
If you ask me what’s the book is about I would say there are space ships??? So it’s a sci-fi. Sentient space ship and also war(s?) Big corporations fight against each other. What corporations? Who are on the side of the protagonists? So many names were dropped like how am I supposed to remember them? Who are the protagonists?
I believe two guys who became copilots of the ship are protagonists, I think. Both of them are men of color; I believe one of them is trans man, but don’t quote me on it. Also he has a hijabi subordinate, which was cool.
But no number of diverse characters was able to save the disaster that was the narration and plot composition.
No rating because it’s a DNF.
I am starting new year by implementing the golden rule of “DNF the book you don’t want to read”.
I tried, but this book just didn’t work for me. I came back home and I was literally bracing myself to read the book. Why bother?
Exactly. So I’m dropping the book like hot potatoes.
The book is messy and confusing and convoluted. The narration introduces all of this world-building elements, dozen of new characters, some kind of political and economic machinations in a span of 30 pages without bothering to pause and explain. I was confused and annoyed and it’s a very unpleasant reading experience. The book is also not divided into chapters. There are pov breaks but it feels like a stream of narration.
If you ask me what’s the book is about I would say there are space ships??? So it’s a sci-fi. Sentient space ship and also war(s?) Big corporations fight against each other. What corporations? Who are on the side of the protagonists? So many names were dropped like how am I supposed to remember them? Who are the protagonists?
I believe two guys who became copilots of the ship are protagonists, I think. Both of them are men of color; I believe one of them is trans man, but don’t quote me on it. Also he has a hijabi subordinate, which was cool.
But no number of diverse characters was able to save the disaster that was the narration and plot composition.
No rating because it’s a DNF.
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