nirkatze's review
3.0
subterranean_catalyst's review
3.0
MINOR SPOILERS
This book is well written but the major issue I take with it is the management of expectations. Writing is nicely done. But the tone of the story is sort of disorienting and if you're walking into this book expecting light and fluffy space romance DO NOT EVEN BOTHER. And now that I've perused some other reviews of this book I see that I did not suffer alone in my expectations about what kind of book I was getting into. As I commented while reading this- the cover art- the female model alone looks more Mass Effect/Shepard-ish vs the peasant village girl Linnea is. Repeatedly there are descriptions of how coarse her clothing is and how self conscious she feels vs the Pilot Masters she is surrounded by on Nexus. I know that often a book cover is misleading- sometimes fans will pitch a fit because the cover model has the wrong kind of hair, or the models are wearing clothing that doesn't work with the story or something but trust me, this cover does this story NO justice. It's a disservice to the work unfortunately.
I felt disoriented during this entire read because my expectations were not in line with what happened in the story at all. This is a grim dystopia. Sure there are planets within the "Hidden Worlds" that are living the high life, they have plenty of commerce, population and a hearty contract with the ruling Pilot Masters (that determine where wealth happens anyway). But when anyone can expect their planet to die a horrible zombie grey goo death without any protection or prevention it's a harsh world is it not? When your two main characters, the heroine and the hero are struggling through torture, rapes, absolute and complete subjugation, seriously authoritative governments and familial arrangements- it is even surprising that this book provides an HFN. I was amazed at that! I had a tough time finishing, I have a tough time when the protagonist is suffering and suffering and suffering and I do not see the possible light at the end of the tunnel. I feel like screaming to the author GIVE THEM A BREAK FFS!
I want to give this a higher rating because the writing has some truly beautiful moments but overall I have a hard time liking and enjoying an absolutely oppressive depressing book. I do. This is just part of my enjoyment when I read- I don't want to walk away depressed. I can handle violence, serious topics, wars, but there are different ways to handle tone, consequence and the readers ability to hope. I think so at least. I can say that within this universe, The Hidden Worlds universe, everything pretty much makes sense according to its internal logic and proceeds as it would and should given the circumstances. That doesn't make it anymore fun for me to read though :\.
Bottom Line:
Some beautiful writing, I enjoyed that, far too dystopian and dark for me and it barely eked out an HFN. The cover should not look like pulpy fiction space opera action funz because it simply aint.
brownbetty's review
3.0
Speaking of the cover, while perfectly nice, it appears to be the cover for some other book-- a book I would have been interested in reading, albeit probably a more generic, less ambitious one than this proved to be. Linnea, the protagonist, not only doesn't pick up a gun at any point in the book, she's probably the least likely of any person in the book to do so.
I'm not quite certain what I think of this book. Linnea, the protagonist, is extremely passive by my standards, although she's a rebel within her culture. She does sort of need to get rescued a lot, but I can't really blame either her or the author, because her learned helplessness is sort of the point
I'd like to give the author points for a culture in which male homosexuality is normative, and presenting it very matter-of-factly, but then again, I sort of feel there should be points taken away for the rapyness of the main villain. And on the gripping hand, if one is to have a rapy villain, he's done well, and the rape is sordid and horrible rather than exciting and dramatic.
The writing is clear and interesting, the characters are distinct, and the world-building is good enough you don't notice it happening. So there you go. Make of that what you will.
prationality's review
4.0
Linnea is a feisty heroine with a plan that may or may not be the stupidest idea she's ever had. Really depends on your viewpoint. She wants to save her planet at all costs--even that of her family ties and respect. Iain is rather the opposite--he'd give up his family pretty quickly all told (some of them are...disturbing to say the least.).
When I first read the book I didn't have any problems with how it was written--its more or less a two part story in one novel. The first part is Linnea's daring plan, making an ally of Iain and uncovering a lot she really shouldn't have. The second part is the consequences (for them both) of uncovering that terrible secret. On a second (or third I forget which this is) read through it felt a little more disparate.
Then also Landon has homosexual relationship between men as the norm for Iain's society--its almost as expected of a man to take a male lover as a female lover. Women are more or less ornaments in his world, used for breeding purposes to create better pilots. Unfortunately the Pilot-Master society is ruthless and it leads to the disturbing person that is Iain's cousin, Rafael who uses sexual abuse against both Linnea and Iain.
I don't think this is necessarily a novel for people who don't like a whole lot of dark in their reading--the end is...less than hopeful for a variety of reasons. The 'evil' of the series in general (The Cold Minds) turned my stomach a bit. Even still I recommend this to fans of suspenseful science fiction books.