lib_britannia's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-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? Yes
4.0
erikbail's review against another edition
4.0
Decent follow up. Nothing like a little asteroid far from home to stir up some drama
srlemons42's review against another edition
4.0
I thought this was another great entry in this series. All of the characters are relatively fleshed out by now and they feel like real people with real worries. This book fractures the crew into two groups and so it jumps back and forth between them every few chapters. I thought it was handled well and I got the hang of visualizing where everyone was pretty quickly.
I recommend this one and am looking forward to reading the next one!
I recommend this one and am looking forward to reading the next one!
seillean's review against another edition
4.0
Let's keep this short and sweet: Dark Sky is the most enjoyable book I've read in 2016. Believable and engaging characters, great story, tight writing. Brooks writes the way I hope SFF is going.
diane's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty good follow up to the first book. The gang thinks they’re going to make some easy money, end up in the middle of a mining colony revolution.
Likes: fast paced action, we see a lot of the colony, really good feel for the setup.
Cons: splitting up the team and concentrating on smaller groups really exposes that some members of the team (Jia and Kuai) are severely underdeveloped compared to everyone else.
But still: the Keiko continues to be an enjoyable series!
Likes: fast paced action, we see a lot of the colony, really good feel for the setup.
Cons: splitting up the team and concentrating on smaller groups really exposes that some members of the team (Jia and Kuai) are severely underdeveloped compared to everyone else.
But still: the Keiko continues to be an enjoyable series!
mcacev's review against another edition
5.0
Dark Run is the second book in the Keiko series of science fiction books. In this installment, the crew of the Keiko is cashing in on a well deserved rest following the events of the previous book. Ichabod Drift has brought his crew on the planet of New Samara into one of the most prestigious casinos in the galaxy, run by Russian mobster Orlov. After Orlov hires Ichabod to do a simple job on the mining planet of Uragan (part of the Red Star Confederate), the crew finds themselves in an even bigger predicament; that of a city in the midst of a revolution.
I really enjoyed this book, even more than the first one. It's a really fun, action-packed ride, and the problems with the second half of the first book and the pacing are greatly improved on here. This is a solid book through and through; there are no moments where I felt like the plot escaped Brooks like it did in the first one, and no real unnecessary detours. The characters that are introduced are mostly sympathetic and well-developed, and I will admit I didn't think the plot would go in the direction it did after the first few chapters. Mild spoilers for some character development from this point on.
Dark Run started off as as a small, character focused story that turned into a blockbuster action at the end, with no proper transition between the two. In this one, Brooks does a great job of properly building the tension and establishing the characters that are important to the later developments of the story. From the moment the crew set foot on Uragan, there is an oppressive and heavy atmosphere, and things just keep getting worse, and tenser as the story progresses until it explodes in an open riot. We are introduced to both Murat and Ricardo fuckin Moutinho really early on, and this made them both more compelling characters. Likewise, the team is split up earlier on, which ups the stakes and the tension, as they are separated on different levels, with no way of communicating and the knowledge that they are caught in a very serious situation they have no real power to influence.
Uragan is a mining planet controlled by the Red Star, which seems to be a lose federation of Russian and Chinese control. As such, it's a planet ruled by bureaucracy, rules and order. The way the city is described, it's designed and built in a strictly utilitarian fashion, the people are all tired and scared, and the government controls pretty much all of their life. I did find some of the things on how oppressive the Russian planet is a little archaic, but considering what is actually happening in Russia right now, it didn't seem to far fetched. It was interesting to read about a planet that only speaks Russian and uses Cyrilc, and how this affected the crew, especially Ichabod who didn't.
Another thing that I really liked in terms of plot, was how the situation wasn't black and white and painted as revolution good, government bad. There were lots of pros and cons on both sides, delivered by characters and the setting itself. Even the catylist for the plot, which was the Shirkovs' insistence to be smuggled off the planet painted this as a city where despite people being desperate to leave, completely annihilating the social and governmental structure would have dire consequences that would make the lives of the inhabitants even worse. As someone who grew up in a country where the remnants of this fear are still very much real and felt on a daily basis, I found this aspect very true. I liked that Brooks didn't paint any of the other Federations as better either; Ichabod was a pirate for the Europeans after all, and Rooke's job for the North Americans was instigating rebellions and insurgencies in foreign territory and then letting them be crushed by the governments to score political points.
This leads me nicely into the characters. Like I said in my previous review, my favorite part of this series are the characters. I don't think I've ever really read a book where the main character is by far my favorite out of the bunch, but arguably, Ichabod is what makes the Keiko crew for me. He is thrown out of his element in this book, as not only is he unable to speak Russian, but he also finds himself backing the side of the law for once. I loved his relationship with Murat, how he acknowledged the man was capable and cared about his people, while also constantly looking for a way out for himself and his team. I also liked that Micah was mentioned a lot, and his absence affected Ichabod both on a character and on a plot level. Likewise his secret actually was brought up too, shaping some of his decisions as well as how other characters (notably Aparna and Jenna perceive him).
Ichabod gets paired with Jia and Kuei in this book, and Jia doesn't get too many moments to shine in this. She does get a rather nice scene with her brother where they argue over neglecting their parents, but really the accent was put mostly on Kuei. I didn't particularly care for him. I don't know if it's his personality as he's supposed to be a slightly cowardly, passive aggressive man, but Micah was passive aggressive too, and I loved him. I think Brooks just doesn't really know what to do with him, so Kuei ends up having very little personality. It's implied he might be gay, but it's such a throwaway line that even I'm not sure if that's intentionally, or I just misread it.
The character that I did like a lot in this group was Murat. Continuing the theme of diverse characters, Murat was Muslim, on a planet of predominantly Russian Orthodox miners. He is a really good character; he's lawful good through and through, and I really liked his banter with Ichabod who's the definition of chaotic neutral. He was a man who cared about his duties and his city, was smart but also too dedicated to following the rules to be actually effective at his job. His character turn at the end felt genuine and built up to, and I'm glad he'll be a part of the next book.
On the other team we have Rooke, Jenna and Aparna. I love Aparna, and in this book he's even more endearing. He is such a sweet character, despite his temperament, and I loved his relationship with Jenna. At first, I wasn't sure if I liked the direction their relationship was going, but honestly it's so sweet, and feels very natural. These are both people who have spent their whole life building up walls and expectations, so finding each-other as comfort and support felt very natural. There is something noteworthy, that the big, intimidating Maori man is allowed to not just be a good character who isn't only there for violence or comic relief, but is also allowed to have a genuine, sweet, romantic relationship with another character.
Jenna was my least favorite character in the first book, and in here, I still can't shake of the feeling that she's a little too perfect. Brooks tries to balance this out by making her awkward and more than a little snobby and prejudiced, which was fine though I could have done without her temper tantrums. I do like how it's very clear her character is growing in confidence, and am curious to find out what happened with the Circuit to make her so hostile to them.
Rooke is the last of the main cast, and I really liked that we got to see more of her in this book. She was fine in the first one, but she always felt a little too perfect and impenetrable as a character. Here we get to see her tired, making mistakes and getting invested in the rebellion, despite her intentions and better judgement. Her breaking into the broadcast building through the pipe reminded me of the scene where Inej climbs the exhaust in Six of Crows which is fitting since both are similar character types. I liked that the book acknowledged the character's age, especially with her, but the best parts were her banter with Moutinho.
It's fitting that Ichabod's foil would be a Brazilian smuggler who speaks Portugese and Russian, and has slept with Rooke. Moutinho was a blast, a thoroughly duplicitous, self-serving character who I nevertheless enjoyed immensely. He doesn't get the chance to confront Ichabod, and instead spends large chunks of the book antagonizing Rooke and trying to get Jenna to switch crews, but I am absolutely waiting for the inevitable confrontation in a later book.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book. It was a definite fun ride, with some heavier themes, and the ending left a lot open for the future book (which is coming out, like now). I am thoroughly satisfied with this adventure and am eagerly awaiting the next one.
I really enjoyed this book, even more than the first one. It's a really fun, action-packed ride, and the problems with the second half of the first book and the pacing are greatly improved on here. This is a solid book through and through; there are no moments where I felt like the plot escaped Brooks like it did in the first one, and no real unnecessary detours. The characters that are introduced are mostly sympathetic and well-developed, and I will admit I didn't think the plot would go in the direction it did after the first few chapters. Mild spoilers for some character development from this point on.
Dark Run started off as as a small, character focused story that turned into a blockbuster action at the end, with no proper transition between the two. In this one, Brooks does a great job of properly building the tension and establishing the characters that are important to the later developments of the story. From the moment the crew set foot on Uragan, there is an oppressive and heavy atmosphere, and things just keep getting worse, and tenser as the story progresses until it explodes in an open riot. We are introduced to both Murat and Ricardo fuckin Moutinho really early on, and this made them both more compelling characters. Likewise, the team is split up earlier on, which ups the stakes and the tension, as they are separated on different levels, with no way of communicating and the knowledge that they are caught in a very serious situation they have no real power to influence.
Uragan is a mining planet controlled by the Red Star, which seems to be a lose federation of Russian and Chinese control. As such, it's a planet ruled by bureaucracy, rules and order. The way the city is described, it's designed and built in a strictly utilitarian fashion, the people are all tired and scared, and the government controls pretty much all of their life. I did find some of the things on how oppressive the Russian planet is a little archaic, but considering what is actually happening in Russia right now, it didn't seem to far fetched. It was interesting to read about a planet that only speaks Russian and uses Cyrilc, and how this affected the crew, especially Ichabod who didn't.
Another thing that I really liked in terms of plot, was how the situation wasn't black and white and painted as revolution good, government bad. There were lots of pros and cons on both sides, delivered by characters and the setting itself. Even the catylist for the plot, which was the Shirkovs' insistence to be smuggled off the planet painted this as a city where despite people being desperate to leave, completely annihilating the social and governmental structure would have dire consequences that would make the lives of the inhabitants even worse. As someone who grew up in a country where the remnants of this fear are still very much real and felt on a daily basis, I found this aspect very true. I liked that Brooks didn't paint any of the other Federations as better either; Ichabod was a pirate for the Europeans after all, and Rooke's job for the North Americans was instigating rebellions and insurgencies in foreign territory and then letting them be crushed by the governments to score political points.
This leads me nicely into the characters. Like I said in my previous review, my favorite part of this series are the characters. I don't think I've ever really read a book where the main character is by far my favorite out of the bunch, but arguably, Ichabod is what makes the Keiko crew for me. He is thrown out of his element in this book, as not only is he unable to speak Russian, but he also finds himself backing the side of the law for once. I loved his relationship with Murat, how he acknowledged the man was capable and cared about his people, while also constantly looking for a way out for himself and his team. I also liked that Micah was mentioned a lot, and his absence affected Ichabod both on a character and on a plot level. Likewise his secret actually was brought up too, shaping some of his decisions as well as how other characters (notably Aparna and Jenna perceive him).
Ichabod gets paired with Jia and Kuei in this book, and Jia doesn't get too many moments to shine in this. She does get a rather nice scene with her brother where they argue over neglecting their parents, but really the accent was put mostly on Kuei. I didn't particularly care for him. I don't know if it's his personality as he's supposed to be a slightly cowardly, passive aggressive man, but Micah was passive aggressive too, and I loved him. I think Brooks just doesn't really know what to do with him, so Kuei ends up having very little personality. It's implied he might be gay, but it's such a throwaway line that even I'm not sure if that's intentionally, or I just misread it.
The character that I did like a lot in this group was Murat. Continuing the theme of diverse characters, Murat was Muslim, on a planet of predominantly Russian Orthodox miners. He is a really good character; he's lawful good through and through, and I really liked his banter with Ichabod who's the definition of chaotic neutral. He was a man who cared about his duties and his city, was smart but also too dedicated to following the rules to be actually effective at his job. His character turn at the end felt genuine and built up to, and I'm glad he'll be a part of the next book.
On the other team we have Rooke, Jenna and Aparna. I love Aparna, and in this book he's even more endearing. He is such a sweet character, despite his temperament, and I loved his relationship with Jenna. At first, I wasn't sure if I liked the direction their relationship was going, but honestly it's so sweet, and feels very natural. These are both people who have spent their whole life building up walls and expectations, so finding each-other as comfort and support felt very natural. There is something noteworthy, that the big, intimidating Maori man is allowed to not just be a good character who isn't only there for violence or comic relief, but is also allowed to have a genuine, sweet, romantic relationship with another character.
Jenna was my least favorite character in the first book, and in here, I still can't shake of the feeling that she's a little too perfect. Brooks tries to balance this out by making her awkward and more than a little snobby and prejudiced, which was fine though I could have done without her temper tantrums. I do like how it's very clear her character is growing in confidence, and am curious to find out what happened with the Circuit to make her so hostile to them.
Rooke is the last of the main cast, and I really liked that we got to see more of her in this book. She was fine in the first one, but she always felt a little too perfect and impenetrable as a character. Here we get to see her tired, making mistakes and getting invested in the rebellion, despite her intentions and better judgement. Her breaking into the broadcast building through the pipe reminded me of the scene where Inej climbs the exhaust in Six of Crows which is fitting since both are similar character types. I liked that the book acknowledged the character's age, especially with her, but the best parts were her banter with Moutinho.
It's fitting that Ichabod's foil would be a Brazilian smuggler who speaks Portugese and Russian, and has slept with Rooke. Moutinho was a blast, a thoroughly duplicitous, self-serving character who I nevertheless enjoyed immensely. He doesn't get the chance to confront Ichabod, and instead spends large chunks of the book antagonizing Rooke and trying to get Jenna to switch crews, but I am absolutely waiting for the inevitable confrontation in a later book.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book. It was a definite fun ride, with some heavier themes, and the ending left a lot open for the future book (which is coming out, like now). I am thoroughly satisfied with this adventure and am eagerly awaiting the next one.
bookwormmichelle's review
4.0
I am liking the characters better now and this was pretty fun. I'm in. (IT'S STILL NOT FIREFLY).
brianrenaud's review
3.0
Another enjoyable action SF story about Ichabod Drift and the crew of the Keiko.
difelicj's review
3.0
3.5/5 stars
These books are just so fun. I really enjoyed what the crew of the Keiko got up to in this book. I definitely didn't actually read the synopsis before reading, so I was surprised by where the plot went with this one, but in a good way. I liked how we got to see more development of the characters and see different sides to them. The way the author split the group up really worked for this. The writing was easy and addictive, and I am excited to finish this trilogy off. :)
These books are just so fun. I really enjoyed what the crew of the Keiko got up to in this book. I definitely didn't actually read the synopsis before reading, so I was surprised by where the plot went with this one, but in a good way. I liked how we got to see more development of the characters and see different sides to them. The way the author split the group up really worked for this. The writing was easy and addictive, and I am excited to finish this trilogy off. :)
vinayvasan's review
4.0
I ready my review of the previous book, Dark Run and find that nothing has really changed. The crew of Keiko remain as charming as they bicker, brawl, bluster, bullshit and bludgeon their way into and out of trouble.
This book splits our crew in the middle of a civil uprising and naturally some interesting team dynamics take place even as characters get fleshed out even more as compared to book 1. There are potentially threads leading to future books but at the same time, there are discoveries that the team makes
I think what appealed to me as well was how book 1 had severe consequence here even though the series seems rather episodic
Best part, helps to scratch the Firefly itch
This book splits our crew in the middle of a civil uprising and naturally some interesting team dynamics take place even as characters get fleshed out even more as compared to book 1. There are potentially threads leading to future books but at the same time, there are discoveries that the team makes
I think what appealed to me as well was how book 1 had severe consequence here even though the series seems rather episodic
Best part, helps to scratch the Firefly itch