gquintana's review against another edition
3.0
The author was kind enough to give me a copy of this book in exchange for a review. This does not in any way affect my review of this series.
This book was good! It’s actually a collection of novellas, plus a few short stories, so there are several different plot lines that all tie in to their escape from Chxor space and back to (somewhat) safer space. One thing that I like is that the aliens are actually alien. They aren’t humans with a different skin color or extra arms being called alien. One is an absolutely huge guy with 8 limbs, skin that changes color based on emotion, and something of an anger issue. The other is also large and dog-like, with fur that can camouflage and absolutely no issue with showing his skill as a ruthless hunter. The Chxor is so extremely logical that he is very removed from humanity and its compassion.
The author also explores their cultures through flashbacks to their past that show at least part of how they ended up captured for a labor camp, and those cultures definitely aren’t human ones masquerading as alien, though there are of course some similarities.
I did like the changing POVs. Each novella starts off from the view of a different member of the crew, and I actually think it does a better job and is more cohesive than doing it from an omniscient third person. The way Spriggs set it up allows us to see how each person sees the others for a set story line, not how everyone sees everyone else the entire time.
That made more sense in my head. Well either way I think it was less confusing to have the limited third. It also allowed for the reader to get attached to each person through their own POVs, even as the other members of the crew that we see through don’t like them. I thought it was an interesting juxtaposition to hate someone in one story and then genuinely like them once we see through their eyes in the next.
Another thing is that these character have huge, glaring flaws. They aren’t good people, but they are also victims of circumstance that turned them into who they are. They are people who’ve done bad things but also have the ability to be good (although I’m not so sure about the homicidal Wrethe). Morally grey, I like that.
I started this book while still suffering from the book slump my previous read put me in, so this took a lot longer to read than I usually take. I kept putting it down and then picking it back up. Still, I enjoyed it and will be reading the next part of the series as well!
Review also available on my blog.
This book was good! It’s actually a collection of novellas, plus a few short stories, so there are several different plot lines that all tie in to their escape from Chxor space and back to (somewhat) safer space. One thing that I like is that the aliens are actually alien. They aren’t humans with a different skin color or extra arms being called alien. One is an absolutely huge guy with 8 limbs, skin that changes color based on emotion, and something of an anger issue. The other is also large and dog-like, with fur that can camouflage and absolutely no issue with showing his skill as a ruthless hunter. The Chxor is so extremely logical that he is very removed from humanity and its compassion.
The author also explores their cultures through flashbacks to their past that show at least part of how they ended up captured for a labor camp, and those cultures definitely aren’t human ones masquerading as alien, though there are of course some similarities.
I did like the changing POVs. Each novella starts off from the view of a different member of the crew, and I actually think it does a better job and is more cohesive than doing it from an omniscient third person. The way Spriggs set it up allows us to see how each person sees the others for a set story line, not how everyone sees everyone else the entire time.
That made more sense in my head. Well either way I think it was less confusing to have the limited third. It also allowed for the reader to get attached to each person through their own POVs, even as the other members of the crew that we see through don’t like them. I thought it was an interesting juxtaposition to hate someone in one story and then genuinely like them once we see through their eyes in the next.
Another thing is that these character have huge, glaring flaws. They aren’t good people, but they are also victims of circumstance that turned them into who they are. They are people who’ve done bad things but also have the ability to be good (although I’m not so sure about the homicidal Wrethe). Morally grey, I like that.
I started this book while still suffering from the book slump my previous read put me in, so this took a lot longer to read than I usually take. I kept putting it down and then picking it back up. Still, I enjoyed it and will be reading the next part of the series as well!
Review also available on my blog.
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