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cyclical's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.0
spiringempress's review against another edition
3.0
The only comment I have is this: whoever wrote the synopsis for this book obviously did not read this book. Never have I ever, read a book that had absolutely nothing to do with it's supposed synopsis on the back cover.
reddjena's review against another edition
5.0
I'm more of a fantasy reader usually, which means that I absolutely LOVED Lindskold's Firekeeper series! However, when I learned that her newest series also had intelligent animal companions, I decided to give it a try. Turns out, Lindskold is just as talented at science fiction writing as fantasy. I was immediately pulled in by the characters and think that Lindskold kept good pacing with exposition, world building, and action. Here's what you need to know!
Pros:
Strong female lead character
Intelligent animal companions
Interesting, intriguing backstory and world building
Excellent pacing
Relationships have time to develop realistically
It's the first in a series
Cons:
Choice of plot device (no spoilers here)
Strange "mechanical" blurbs at the end of chapters
Obviously, the pros outweigh the cons :) Mostly the "mechanical" blurbs were lost on me when I read them, but they did make sense the further I read into the story. I am definitely excited for the next book!
Pros:
Strong female lead character
Intelligent animal companions
Interesting, intriguing backstory and world building
Excellent pacing
Relationships have time to develop realistically
It's the first in a series
Cons:
Choice of plot device (no spoilers here)
Strange "mechanical" blurbs at the end of chapters
Obviously, the pros outweigh the cons :) Mostly the "mechanical" blurbs were lost on me when I read them, but they did make sense the further I read into the story. I am definitely excited for the next book!
books_dipped_in_colour's review against another edition
4.0
everything about this book was great. from beginning to end, could not put it down
krisball's review against another edition
4.0
Spoilers, so beware. Everything on the planet Artemis - the people, the animals, the towns and landscape - was designed by a technologically advanced race as a place where they could get away from their technology and get back to nature - sort of like how rich people go on safaris or climb mountains in remote parts of the world now.
This advanced civilization fragments into different factions and destroys itself, the civilization that survives from this destruction still possesses space travel and technology but nothing on the scale of what had been achieved previously, so there is a great deal that is lost, including the location of the planet Artemis.
An ambitious archaeologist named Griffin locates Artemis and keeps it a secret from even his family so that he can ensure that he is the first to reveal it's location. Unfortunately for him he crashes his lander on Artemis and now has no way communicate with his orbiting spaceship or anyone back home to tell them where he is.
Griffin searches Artemis for technology that will allow him to communicate with ship or his people, but all the technology that he finds has stopped working and so the search continues to find some bit of technology that still does work.
The book is not so much about the technology, however, as it is about the relationships between characters, and how the characters learn more about themselves. Griffin is rescued by Adara, a huntress, and a super-intelligent puma that shares a psychic link with her. Griffin and Adara are soon joined by Terrell, who has been wanted to be more than just friends with Adara for quite some time but has always been rebuffed by her.
Griffin and Adara also have feelings for eachother, and I found the evolving relationship between Adara, Griffin, and Terrell to be more interesting than the technology that they uncover. The book keeps you guessing as to where things are heading. Later the book introduces a third guy that Adara has, or had, feelings for, but who broke her heart and is now up to no good.
The telepathic animal companion concept was also an interesting part of this book, the puma "Sand Shadow"cannot speak of course but plays a big role. I'm looking forward to the second book in this series.
This advanced civilization fragments into different factions and destroys itself, the civilization that survives from this destruction still possesses space travel and technology but nothing on the scale of what had been achieved previously, so there is a great deal that is lost, including the location of the planet Artemis.
An ambitious archaeologist named Griffin locates Artemis and keeps it a secret from even his family so that he can ensure that he is the first to reveal it's location. Unfortunately for him he crashes his lander on Artemis and now has no way communicate with his orbiting spaceship or anyone back home to tell them where he is.
Griffin searches Artemis for technology that will allow him to communicate with ship or his people, but all the technology that he finds has stopped working and so the search continues to find some bit of technology that still does work.
The book is not so much about the technology, however, as it is about the relationships between characters, and how the characters learn more about themselves. Griffin is rescued by Adara, a huntress, and a super-intelligent puma that shares a psychic link with her. Griffin and Adara are soon joined by Terrell, who has been wanted to be more than just friends with Adara for quite some time but has always been rebuffed by her.
Griffin and Adara also have feelings for eachother, and I found the evolving relationship between Adara, Griffin, and Terrell to be more interesting than the technology that they uncover. The book keeps you guessing as to where things are heading. Later the book introduces a third guy that Adara has, or had, feelings for, but who broke her heart and is now up to no good.
The telepathic animal companion concept was also an interesting part of this book, the puma "Sand Shadow"cannot speak of course but plays a big role. I'm looking forward to the second book in this series.
julia_w's review against another edition
2.0
This book is mostly boring. The plot starts off so slowly and then when it finally does pick up, its bad. The characters are kind of lifeless, but honestly, I've read a lot worse. That's what this whole book is for me: bad, but not the worst I've read. So.
gabeisnotanangel's review against another edition
4.0
I don't know if there was anything earth shattering about the plot but the writing was excellent. I got caught up in the plot, and enjoyed the story immensely. I'll pick up the second in the series for sure. One thing that stood out is the author's generous capacity for empathy. It was nice to see a fat woman portrayed as beautiful and to have a man who is not usually attracted to over weight women see that beauty. This extends to how she sees animals and AI as well.
mightypensharpsword's review against another edition
3.0
This world and concept is super cool, which is why this gets two and a half stars. Unfortunately I found the insta-love/lust and forced love triangle really annoying and unnecessary.
**SPOILERS**
Also when we find out all the disturbing stuff that is going on, the protagonist is so blasé about it that he basically forgets about it and then there is a point where he essentially victim blames the woman that told him about her kidnapping and rape and is like maybe she actually wanted it and changed her mind??? I have zero patience for that kind of toxicity. Also this man is so horny that he gets off while pretending to have sex with one of the kidnapped women. It is hard to root for this guy.
Such a cool world with cool potential though. Such a shame.
**SPOILERS**
Also when we find out all the disturbing stuff that is going on, the protagonist is so blasé about it that he basically forgets about it and then there is a point where he essentially victim blames the woman that told him about her kidnapping and rape and is like maybe she actually wanted it and changed her mind??? I have zero patience for that kind of toxicity. Also this man is so horny that he gets off while pretending to have sex with one of the kidnapped women. It is hard to root for this guy.
Such a cool world with cool potential though. Such a shame.
morgandhu's review against another edition
3.0
The world of Artemis was created as a pleasure planet for the richest citizens of a technologically advanced galactic empire, one in which both science and psionics interacted to enable almost fantastic feats of science and engineering.
Created from an airless asteroid, seeded with genetically engineered life - even to the humanoid servants who lived on the planet, serving as resort personnel - Artemis was a playground for the elites. But empires end, and violent power struggles among the ruling families of this empire brought about its destruction. Lost is much of the psionic technology, and the remaining planetary civilisations, while still space-faring, are much diminished. Lost also is the location of Artemis, where for 500 years, the genetically altered humans and animals have been left to build a functioning society. Their past as a vacation resort is still very much a part of their way of life - they have no advanced technology of their own, and live in the same simple agrarian ways set for them by the long-absent “seegnurs.”
Griffin Dale is a historian, archeologist, and anthropologist, whose field of research is the old Empire. In his research, he discovers clues to the location of long-lost pleasure planet Artemis, and being somewhat young, over-confidant, and a bit hungry for glory, he sets out alone to check his findings. But not only does he find Artemis, but his shuttle, which he intended to use to observe the planet from a closer distance than the high orbit of his spaceship, suffers mechanical failure due to the presence of destructive nanobots in the atmosphere, a relic of the wars that raged between imperial factions even on Artemis. Trapped on the planet, he is fortunate to encounter three Artemisians - two genetically adapted humans, Adara and Terrell, and an adapted puma, Sand Shadiw, who is telepathically bonded to Adara.
Together they embark on a quest to uncover what may remain of the old technologies, so that Griffen can go home again.
In Artemis Awakening, the first of two novels following the hunt of Griffin, Adara and Terrell seek information from a respected loremaster who has studied the technology left behind by the seegnurs - an adapted human known as the Old One Who Is Young because of some mutation that has left him with an extended life span. But instead they are drawn into his unsavoury secret plots, which include a forced breeding program intended to re-establish the psionic powers of the ancients in a new generation of Artemisians who would be bound to him.
As they work together to foil his scheme and rescue the unwilling participants of his program, both Terrell and Adara begin to manifest unexpected abilities. Terrell, descended from a line of Artemisians bred to be the perfect tour guides, turns out to have the ability to link telepathically with Griffin, who is, after all, descended from seegnur stock. And Adara, together with her bondmate, is somehow in communication with the awakening consciousness of the artificially created planet itself.
It’s an engaging story, a pleasant blend of science fiction and fantasy tropes and settings, with somw interesting characters and situations. The developing love triangle between Griffin, Adara and Terrell, is handled in a refreshing manner, with both men keeping the lid on the potentials for pointless competition and jealously, and acknowledging Adara’s right to make her own choices, or no choice at all, in her own tiim.
Created from an airless asteroid, seeded with genetically engineered life - even to the humanoid servants who lived on the planet, serving as resort personnel - Artemis was a playground for the elites. But empires end, and violent power struggles among the ruling families of this empire brought about its destruction. Lost is much of the psionic technology, and the remaining planetary civilisations, while still space-faring, are much diminished. Lost also is the location of Artemis, where for 500 years, the genetically altered humans and animals have been left to build a functioning society. Their past as a vacation resort is still very much a part of their way of life - they have no advanced technology of their own, and live in the same simple agrarian ways set for them by the long-absent “seegnurs.”
Griffin Dale is a historian, archeologist, and anthropologist, whose field of research is the old Empire. In his research, he discovers clues to the location of long-lost pleasure planet Artemis, and being somewhat young, over-confidant, and a bit hungry for glory, he sets out alone to check his findings. But not only does he find Artemis, but his shuttle, which he intended to use to observe the planet from a closer distance than the high orbit of his spaceship, suffers mechanical failure due to the presence of destructive nanobots in the atmosphere, a relic of the wars that raged between imperial factions even on Artemis. Trapped on the planet, he is fortunate to encounter three Artemisians - two genetically adapted humans, Adara and Terrell, and an adapted puma, Sand Shadiw, who is telepathically bonded to Adara.
Together they embark on a quest to uncover what may remain of the old technologies, so that Griffen can go home again.
In Artemis Awakening, the first of two novels following the hunt of Griffin, Adara and Terrell seek information from a respected loremaster who has studied the technology left behind by the seegnurs - an adapted human known as the Old One Who Is Young because of some mutation that has left him with an extended life span. But instead they are drawn into his unsavoury secret plots, which include a forced breeding program intended to re-establish the psionic powers of the ancients in a new generation of Artemisians who would be bound to him.
As they work together to foil his scheme and rescue the unwilling participants of his program, both Terrell and Adara begin to manifest unexpected abilities. Terrell, descended from a line of Artemisians bred to be the perfect tour guides, turns out to have the ability to link telepathically with Griffin, who is, after all, descended from seegnur stock. And Adara, together with her bondmate, is somehow in communication with the awakening consciousness of the artificially created planet itself.
It’s an engaging story, a pleasant blend of science fiction and fantasy tropes and settings, with somw interesting characters and situations. The developing love triangle between Griffin, Adara and Terrell, is handled in a refreshing manner, with both men keeping the lid on the potentials for pointless competition and jealously, and acknowledging Adara’s right to make her own choices, or no choice at all, in her own tiim.