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jameshaus's review
4.0
I really enjoy McDevitt's books. They remind me a lot of the Asimov and Clarke I read growing up. Straight forward and laser focused on the wonder and danger of exploring space.
mjfmjfmjf's review
4.0
Okay read. A prequel has its own set of difficulties. I avoided looking up characters to see where they ended up, though I'm pretty sure there were a number of characters that appear later. Mostly this was a typical Hutch book but with a younger Hutch. Pretty good relatively good near-future sf but with a touch of space archaeology. 3.5 of 5.
felinity's review
4.0
Politics, the dangers of space faring, environmental terrorism and amazing characters with some thought-provoking philosophies casually tossed in.
If you like the social politics of Star Trek, this is worth a look.
If you like the social politics of Star Trek, this is worth a look.
meliaraastair's review
4.0
Priscilla just passed her certification flight to be an interstellar pilot, but on the journey home from certification, they get called out to help another flight that's gone wrong. Their ship isn't actually big enough to save them and the next group coming to help is too far out. When they finally arrive home, Priscilla starts working for one company but decides she can't support their mission. She's been blacklisted from flying. Will she ever get back to flying? With all the political pressure against a mission, will flying even be an option?
This book reminded me more of the rest of this series, with the exception of The Long Sunset. Crazy stuff is going on, the political climate is creating pressure on space exploration, and things are always tense. But seeing a younger version of Priscilla is a little weird. In the rest of the series, she's this badass, she doesn't need anyone's help, and she's the first person people go to when things get rough. However, she's a much softer character with a lot of doubts (and really quite capable, if still quite green), but we don't ever get to see her grow from one place to the other. I'd say that'd be my biggest disappointment. I would have really liked to see the character growth. There's also this side plot that I don't want to give away, but I'm disappointed they never really got more answers with that.
Overall, after the first 30% - I could have done without a lot of the events that went on - I really enjoyed this book. I'll just throw it out there - multiple suicide trigger warning, if anyone else needs that. Really not necessary. Could have been written without. Especially the first 2, if that gives you any indication of how this went...
Other than that, I'll go 7 of 10 for enjoyment (mostly because I want a rewritten beginning) and 4 of 5 for readability. If you've read the rest of the series, it's interesting to see where spaceflight was when Priscilla was just starting out versus where it's at during the rest of the series. But I definitely think you could read this book first and not miss a whole lot.
For more reviews, check out bedroopedbookworms.wordpress.com!
This book reminded me more of the rest of this series, with the exception of The Long Sunset. Crazy stuff is going on, the political climate is creating pressure on space exploration, and things are always tense. But seeing a younger version of Priscilla is a little weird. In the rest of the series, she's this badass, she doesn't need anyone's help, and she's the first person people go to when things get rough. However, she's a much softer character with a lot of doubts (and really quite capable, if still quite green), but we don't ever get to see her grow from one place to the other. I'd say that'd be my biggest disappointment. I would have really liked to see the character growth. There's also this side plot that I don't want to give away, but I'm disappointed they never really got more answers with that.
Overall, after the first 30% - I could have done without a lot of the events that went on - I really enjoyed this book. I'll just throw it out there - multiple suicide trigger warning, if anyone else needs that. Really not necessary. Could have been written without. Especially the first 2, if that gives you any indication of how this went...
Other than that, I'll go 7 of 10 for enjoyment (mostly because I want a rewritten beginning) and 4 of 5 for readability. If you've read the rest of the series, it's interesting to see where spaceflight was when Priscilla was just starting out versus where it's at during the rest of the series. But I definitely think you could read this book first and not miss a whole lot.
For more reviews, check out bedroopedbookworms.wordpress.com!
arcturiankhaos25's review
4.0
I like the writing style of this book. Although I've never read another entry of The Academy series by Jack McDevitt, I enjoyed reading this book immensily because of its direct and concise progression of the plot. I also liked how it incorporated the theme of climate change into its story, plus how a bureaucracy can really undermine a space program like The Academy.
It made the story that much more plausible and real, instead of the usual "Hero-goes-to-the-stars-on-a-neverending-adventure" type of story.
It made the story that much more plausible and real, instead of the usual "Hero-goes-to-the-stars-on-a-neverending-adventure" type of story.