motaki's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
A solid sci-fi book that kept me on edge the whole time.
The plot is so interesting and that ending is quite open that it's definitely worth a sequel.
The plot is so interesting and that ending is quite open that it's definitely worth a sequel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
shereadstales's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Thanks to Netgalley and Bedazzled Ink, Mindancer Press for the digital galley of this book.
Captain Lyn Randall has been in charge of a space tour ship for ten years. Her crew doesn’t know it yet, but this is her last mission. She’s going to retire and return to flying planes in Montana. That is until a mysterious, violent event hurtles her ship to another solar system with a thousand-year journey back to Earth.
When they discover a couple of nearby ships also made the mysterious journey, Randall and her crew must keep everyone alive, and try to find a inhabitable planet or a way home. What caused the event? Can it be recreated? And what does the intriguing woman on the research vessel know about wormholes?
This book was such an adventure. Technically, it’s a sapphic romance, but the burn is super slow and there’s no steamy scenes. The romance is way secondary to the survival story of the characters and how they build friendships and rely on rach other for survival. It reminded me a bit of BSG without the Cylons. Definitely here for it and recommend if you enjoy standalone space tales that aren’t necessarily epic space operas. It’s available now wherever you get your books.
kentanapages's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
On her last tour of the solar system before retiring, Captain Lyn Randall and her ship are hurled 4 lightyears away, defying the known laws of physics and space travel and stranding her crew and passengers an impossible distance from home. Lyn and the crew face one crisis after another as they struggle to survive, desperate to find a planet to inhabit or a way back to Earth, and battling both the harshness of space and the heated interpersonal struggles that arise within the ship walls.
Endurance is a post-apocalyptic space opera adventure with no shortage of action. There were a lot of pleasant surprises in this book, such as the inclusion of more hard science and technology than I expected, a diverse cast, and some lovable nonhuman characters (I'm a big puddle for the “AI develops emotions and self awareness” trope). If you’re a fan of non-stop space action with a sprinkling of physics and also lesbians, this may be for you! I was hooked by this premise, and it started off strong for me.
However, the further I read, I found that there were aspects I struggled with as well. The sentence structure was a bit choppy for me, with too many really short sentences and instances where it just didn’t flow. I was hoping I would just adjust to the rhythm of the writing style but couldn’t; however this style may work better for others and is a personal preference for me!
The biggest challenge was this book felt to me like it was trying to do too much – so many things are mentioned, but not given enough time or attention. It seemed like the author had so many great ideas and wanted to fit them all into one book, but they were at times a distraction from the main storyline and didn’t add depth. To start, there are several major overarching conspiracies that never get truly resolved or integrated into the story, and there are references to an apocalypse and a Women’s Revolution on Earth (during which women took over running everything, I think?) that we never hear more about. Throughout the story there is one crisis after another, with origins often not making a lot of sense, that are quickly resolved and not important to the overall plot. I do think a lot of these ideas were fun, and if fleshed out could have made separate stories/prequels/etc! The author is clearly creative and passionate about sci-fi and tech; it was just too much crammed into one novel.
I also found that our protagonist Lyn became increasingly less likable as a character as the story wore on. She repeatedly makes the same types of mistakes and miscalculations, telling us she believes in one thing (such as trust and honesty with her crew) and acting in a completely different way. It felt a bit like watching an 80s horror movie where you want to shout at the characters not to do the really obviously dumb thing... except this character was meant to be incredibly intelligent and in possession of strong leadership skills, so it just felt like it didn’t make sense that she continued to do the dumb thing and act oblivious. I really wanted to see her grow as a leader or a person. I certainly don’t think you always need to like the main character, but in this case it led to a frustrating reading experience for me.
I really enjoyed the diversity of the characters, and the inclusion of small things like words from various languages or cultural traditions included naturally into the writing. I also believe the author was trying to be inclusive of genders by writing a character who uses ne/nir/nem pronouns and attempting to address some racial stereotypes, but I think it falls a bit short here. I do like when nonbinary characters are included in a natural way without a lot of over-explanation, but in this case it felt a bit like a token character; every other character uses traditional gender pronouns, including the ship’s AI and the android doctor, and I was left curious about how this future society includes and treats nonbinary genders. I would have liked to see this fleshed out more. There were also a few times when characters made awkward racist comments or actions, such as side-eyeing an Asian crewmate when a military competition with China is mentioned, and wondering if a crew member from Catalan knows about the mountains in Portugal; in both of these cases, there’s a weird moment where one character gives another a look or says something internally, but it’s never overtly addressed. I struggled to understand what the purpose of including these moments were if not to actually call out and address them in a responsible way.
I did enjoy some of the characters a lot more than I did Lyn. For example, Zoya is a delight! She’s 132 years old, which is old but “normal old” in this future, and she’s on the space tour celebrating her 100th wedding anniversary with her husband and her extended family. She adds wisdom and wit and spunk to the pages, and I’d probably read a whole novella on her. Petra, the ship’s AI, is also a really fun character arc; we get to see her start to develop emotions, and her early attempt at jokes had me chuckling.
If you’re a space opera junkie like me, I’d say give this a try and share your thoughts! I’d also totally read some backstory on the Women’s Revolution at some point (hint hint) :)
Endurance is a post-apocalyptic space opera adventure with no shortage of action. There were a lot of pleasant surprises in this book, such as the inclusion of more hard science and technology than I expected, a diverse cast, and some lovable nonhuman characters (I'm a big puddle for the “AI develops emotions and self awareness” trope). If you’re a fan of non-stop space action with a sprinkling of physics and also lesbians, this may be for you! I was hooked by this premise, and it started off strong for me.
However, the further I read, I found that there were aspects I struggled with as well. The sentence structure was a bit choppy for me, with too many really short sentences and instances where it just didn’t flow. I was hoping I would just adjust to the rhythm of the writing style but couldn’t; however this style may work better for others and is a personal preference for me!
The biggest challenge was this book felt to me like it was trying to do too much – so many things are mentioned, but not given enough time or attention. It seemed like the author had so many great ideas and wanted to fit them all into one book, but they were at times a distraction from the main storyline and didn’t add depth. To start, there are several major overarching conspiracies that never get truly resolved or integrated into the story, and there are references to an apocalypse and a Women’s Revolution on Earth (during which women took over running everything, I think?) that we never hear more about. Throughout the story there is one crisis after another, with origins often not making a lot of sense, that are quickly resolved and not important to the overall plot. I do think a lot of these ideas were fun, and if fleshed out could have made separate stories/prequels/etc! The author is clearly creative and passionate about sci-fi and tech; it was just too much crammed into one novel.
I also found that our protagonist Lyn became increasingly less likable as a character as the story wore on. She repeatedly makes the same types of mistakes and miscalculations, telling us she believes in one thing (such as trust and honesty with her crew) and acting in a completely different way. It felt a bit like watching an 80s horror movie where you want to shout at the characters not to do the really obviously dumb thing... except this character was meant to be incredibly intelligent and in possession of strong leadership skills, so it just felt like it didn’t make sense that she continued to do the dumb thing and act oblivious. I really wanted to see her grow as a leader or a person. I certainly don’t think you always need to like the main character, but in this case it led to a frustrating reading experience for me.
I really enjoyed the diversity of the characters, and the inclusion of small things like words from various languages or cultural traditions included naturally into the writing. I also believe the author was trying to be inclusive of genders by writing a character who uses ne/nir/nem pronouns and attempting to address some racial stereotypes, but I think it falls a bit short here. I do like when nonbinary characters are included in a natural way without a lot of over-explanation, but in this case it felt a bit like a token character; every other character uses traditional gender pronouns, including the ship’s AI and the android doctor, and I was left curious about how this future society includes and treats nonbinary genders. I would have liked to see this fleshed out more. There were also a few times when characters made awkward racist comments or actions, such as side-eyeing an Asian crewmate when a military competition with China is mentioned, and wondering if a crew member from Catalan knows about the mountains in Portugal; in both of these cases, there’s a weird moment where one character gives another a look or says something internally, but it’s never overtly addressed. I struggled to understand what the purpose of including these moments were if not to actually call out and address them in a responsible way.
I did enjoy some of the characters a lot more than I did Lyn. For example, Zoya is a delight! She’s 132 years old, which is old but “normal old” in this future, and she’s on the space tour celebrating her 100th wedding anniversary with her husband and her extended family. She adds wisdom and wit and spunk to the pages, and I’d probably read a whole novella on her. Petra, the ship’s AI, is also a really fun character arc; we get to see her start to develop emotions, and her early attempt at jokes had me chuckling.
Spoiler
I was actually quite upset when the decision was made, quite callously, to erase her memories and return her to a pre-aware version of herself.If you’re a space opera junkie like me, I’d say give this a try and share your thoughts! I’d also totally read some backstory on the Women’s Revolution at some point (hint hint) :)
inskuuh's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
judeinthestars's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
On her last trip around the solar system as the captain of a cruise ship, Lyn Randall is getting ready for the next step in her life, a life she expects to be quiet and spent flying old planes in Montana. Close to her family, not on the other side of the galaxy. An unexplained event propels the ship to a different solar system, four light-years from Earth. With Lyn in charge of hundreds of tourists and no clear way to take them home.
This book was a complete surprise. An excellent one. I didn’t know what to expect, I know I gave the blurb a cursory glance before deciding to read, but not enough to have any real idea of what the story was about. I kept getting surprised, living in the same uncertainty as the characters. Will they manage to go home? Do they want to go home? Will they find a new planet to settle on? Can they trust their captain? Do Earth rules still make sense? The author maintains the thrill all along, even as she instils feelings of exhaustion, excitement, fear, hope. Lyn Randall is a fantastic character, noble and flawed, wise and scared. Around her are several fascinating people, all very relatable and human (even the ones who aren’t human). The world-building is perfect, a world at once familiar (Earth a century from now, past – or is it? – the problems we’re struggling with now in terms of climate change and greed) and disconcerting. Burnes sprinkles just enough science to keep things exciting but not so much that philistines like me will get bored. There’s no info dumping, or when there is, from a couple of characters, they’re interrupted by others who, quite frankly, don’t care for details. The way they interact, in these times of crisis, none of them perfect, none of them (too) terrible either, everything makes sense and feels plausible.
As I’ve written often, I’m a character-driven reader. If I don’t care for the characters in any way, the best plot will be wasted on me. And while romance isn’t always necessary for me to enjoy, it often helps get me to care. In Endurance, I felt the balance between plot and characters was perfect for me, with a romance arc not at the centre of the story but important enough that I could relate to what was happening between the characters.
The ending didn’t leave me feeling there were too many untied loose ends but is still open enough that I really hope the author has a sequel planned, and soon.
I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
Read all my reviews on my blog (and please buy from the affiliation links!): Jude in the Stars
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