mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
2.0
No. Umm just no. Perhaps if I were raised Union I would have liked this more. Or if any of the characters had been the slightest bit sympathetic. There were details in the corporate world that I aprreciated, mostly around our pov character's reference to B school. But mostly this was just incoherent dreck with hints of interesting bits here and there. Too weird and too confused. Readable but just barely.
snazel's review against another edition
4.0
Cynical, snarky, world-weary union organizer has a really bad day. And then it gets worse.
Oodles of fun. NEXT BOOK.
Oodles of fun. NEXT BOOK.
old_tim's review against another edition
4.0
So I read this a couple years after I read the second book in the series, and I have to say that it suffers because of that. My memory is hazy enough that I don't pick up on specific things that make it enjoyable, yet it seems too similar to the book I have already read.
Still, it's a fun read, and it occupies space in the much over looked pro-union viewpoint in SF.
Still, it's a fun read, and it occupies space in the much over looked pro-union viewpoint in SF.
krayfish1's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the world building on this one. I liked the revised business school curriculum, and the experienced main character, who is a labor organizer, not an assassin. She tries not to kill anybody. I liked that it included economics, and making deals. It had a lot more action scenes than I generally like in my books, but all in all pretty good.
djwudi's review
3.0
More amusing and exciting than I would have expected a SF novel about a union recruiter trying to sign up new members would be. That's a bit of an oversimplification, sure - the conspiracy that could wipe out the galaxy's economy helps - but not an inaccurate one. An enjoyable read, and a decent start to this year's PK Dick slate.
sleeping_while_awake's review against another edition
3.0
Disclosure: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway.
Windswept is a decent first novel. The writing style is casual, kind of like an urban fantasy, except no paranormal romances flourishing. Windswept refers to a brand of rum featured prominently.
Padma Mehta lives on a backwater planet. There are the Big Three Corporations who run the universe, controlling both people and products. People will sign up for indenture with the corporations, often to travel somewhere through space. Akin to leaving the small farm to get to the big city.
The indentures are soul-sucking, and when people decide to literally jump ship and breach, sometimes they end up on Padma's planet.
Padma recruits these breaches, as they are called, into the Union. It's a weird pyramid job scheme. I had a hard time understanding how it worked, but if there are new breaches, they will take the terrible jobs, and the people in those positions prior will move onto something better.
She has a number of breaches she needs to recruit that will help her buy a distillery, and she won't have to recruit again. She can leave the Union job behind and focus on her passion. Once an acquaintance informs her there are 40 breaches that will descend on the planet, she rushes to bring them in, before another recruiter takes them.
Things don't go as planned, and lots of action and swearing occur throughout the book. Also, many breakneck tuk-tuk rides.
I liked that the main character was an older female, and that many of the characters were working class people. I liked Padma's toughness.
However, it wasn't until about 2/3 of the way in, her true motivations for desperately recruiting the breaches is explained.
I assume it's so late as this writing style doesn't write out a lot of internal monologue, so it had to wait for Padma to talk to another character about it. I had a hard time connecting to Padma until that particular conversation. Once it was revealed, I wish it would have been sooner, as she wouldn't have been so selfish.
Banks was a great balance for Padma. Jilly seemed under-characterized. So much was happening there weren't opportunities to characterize. Even for the main character Padma.
The world-building is interesting. It makes a lot of sense that people wouldn't be able to afford a ticket through space, so they indenture themselves. I guess the rest of the world outside the story is really bland, and the people are slaves to whatever the corporations want?
The areas visited in the book are industrial and slummy. It wasn't too over the top though. It very vaguely reminded me of the Windup Girl. No robots or anything similar. There is some minor talk about genetic modification of crops, but it's not thoroughly explored.
I found the description of action scenes to be lacking in clarity. One of the ending scenes with Padma is really confusing (). It was often I needed to go back a page and re-read to figure out what happened.
Windswept is a decent first novel. The writing style is casual, kind of like an urban fantasy, except no paranormal romances flourishing. Windswept refers to a brand of rum featured prominently.
Padma Mehta lives on a backwater planet. There are the Big Three Corporations who run the universe, controlling both people and products. People will sign up for indenture with the corporations, often to travel somewhere through space. Akin to leaving the small farm to get to the big city.
The indentures are soul-sucking, and when people decide to literally jump ship and breach, sometimes they end up on Padma's planet.
Padma recruits these breaches, as they are called, into the Union. It's a weird pyramid job scheme. I had a hard time understanding how it worked, but if there are new breaches, they will take the terrible jobs, and the people in those positions prior will move onto something better.
She has a number of breaches she needs to recruit that will help her buy a distillery, and she won't have to recruit again. She can leave the Union job behind and focus on her passion. Once an acquaintance informs her there are 40 breaches that will descend on the planet, she rushes to bring them in, before another recruiter takes them.
Things don't go as planned, and lots of action and swearing occur throughout the book. Also, many breakneck tuk-tuk rides.
I liked that the main character was an older female, and that many of the characters were working class people. I liked Padma's toughness.
However, it wasn't until about 2/3 of the way in, her true motivations for desperately recruiting the breaches is explained.
I assume it's so late as this writing style doesn't write out a lot of internal monologue, so it had to wait for Padma to talk to another character about it. I had a hard time connecting to Padma until that particular conversation. Once it was revealed, I wish it would have been sooner, as she wouldn't have been so selfish.
Banks was a great balance for Padma. Jilly seemed under-characterized. So much was happening there weren't opportunities to characterize. Even for the main character Padma.
The world-building is interesting. It makes a lot of sense that people wouldn't be able to afford a ticket through space, so they indenture themselves. I guess the rest of the world outside the story is really bland, and the people are slaves to whatever the corporations want?
The areas visited in the book are industrial and slummy. It wasn't too over the top though. It very vaguely reminded me of the Windup Girl. No robots or anything similar. There is some minor talk about genetic modification of crops, but it's not thoroughly explored.
I found the description of action scenes to be lacking in clarity. One of the ending scenes with Padma is really confusing (
Spoiler
where she is sabotaging the crawlerscoolcurrybooks's review against another edition
4.0
This science fiction thriller was a true delight! It was fun, fast paced, and I adored the heroine.
Padma Mehta’s a crotchety union rep dreaming of retirement and her plans to buy a distillery. But for her dreams to come true, she needs to get thirty-three more people for her head count. Which means she needs to wait for thirty-three more people to fall from the sky.
Most of known space is controlled by three mega-corporations, who rely on the labor of indentured servants. But corporate life isn’t all its cracked up to be, and some indentures Breach – fleeing down the space elevator to the Union on Padma’s backwater, sugar cane producing planet.
When a small time con artist tells Padma that forty people are about to Breach, of course Padma checks it out. But in her desperate bid to make her headcount, Padma stumbles onto a plot that could endanger her entire planet.
Padma was far and away my favorite thing about Windswept. She’s just so self confident and audacious! I knew I utterly loved her when near the beginning of the book she’s pulling Breaches out of the ocean when some corporate ships start to go after their boat. Padma jumps overboard, uses her SF mind link thingie to take a photo of the corporate boats speeding away from her, and posts the photo on the net with a caption something like, “WalWa sees me drowning and does nothing! Hire lawyers and avenge me!” How can you not love a heroine like that? Plus, it’s rare to find an older heroine in science fiction. Padma was great on so many levels.
I also enjoyed the world Rakunas has created. I always like when speculative fiction novels actually consider how economics impact their setting, and Windswept was great for this. Padma’s planet is entirely reliant on the production of sugar cane, since industrial grade molasses is used as fuel for space ships. If the sugar cane crop fails, the economy fails with it, and the Union and all its workers would be at the mercy of the corporate overlords.
Windswept was just so much fun. The pacing’s good, and the action snaps along. I wouldn’t say it belongs to the subgenre of science fiction humor, but what humor it has is excellently used. Basically, it’s such a great debut. I can’t wait to read the sequel!
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
Padma Mehta’s a crotchety union rep dreaming of retirement and her plans to buy a distillery. But for her dreams to come true, she needs to get thirty-three more people for her head count. Which means she needs to wait for thirty-three more people to fall from the sky.
Most of known space is controlled by three mega-corporations, who rely on the labor of indentured servants. But corporate life isn’t all its cracked up to be, and some indentures Breach – fleeing down the space elevator to the Union on Padma’s backwater, sugar cane producing planet.
When a small time con artist tells Padma that forty people are about to Breach, of course Padma checks it out. But in her desperate bid to make her headcount, Padma stumbles onto a plot that could endanger her entire planet.
Padma was far and away my favorite thing about Windswept. She’s just so self confident and audacious! I knew I utterly loved her when near the beginning of the book she’s pulling Breaches out of the ocean when some corporate ships start to go after their boat. Padma jumps overboard, uses her SF mind link thingie to take a photo of the corporate boats speeding away from her, and posts the photo on the net with a caption something like, “WalWa sees me drowning and does nothing! Hire lawyers and avenge me!” How can you not love a heroine like that? Plus, it’s rare to find an older heroine in science fiction. Padma was great on so many levels.
I also enjoyed the world Rakunas has created. I always like when speculative fiction novels actually consider how economics impact their setting, and Windswept was great for this. Padma’s planet is entirely reliant on the production of sugar cane, since industrial grade molasses is used as fuel for space ships. If the sugar cane crop fails, the economy fails with it, and the Union and all its workers would be at the mercy of the corporate overlords.
Windswept was just so much fun. The pacing’s good, and the action snaps along. I wouldn’t say it belongs to the subgenre of science fiction humor, but what humor it has is excellently used. Basically, it’s such a great debut. I can’t wait to read the sequel!
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
kers's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best sci-fi books I've ever read, if I'm being honest. I come back to it like clockwork every other month for a reread. If you like kickass female leads, gritty backgrounds and some tongue in cheek commentary you'll enjoy this :]
si0bhan's review against another edition
4.0
If I’m being completely honest, this one really surprised me.
I love science fiction books, yet I find myself thinking they’re often a case of hit or miss. Either every mark is hit or I’m left wanting something more. Of course there are varying degrees of the latter, but I often find myself reading books that fall into that category. More often than I’d like, science fiction books leave me wanting something more. This doesn’t stop me from reading more books in the genre, but it does mean I don’t go out of my way to read as many as I would like. I prefer to know I’m getting something good before picking up a science fiction book that could leave me disappointed.
When I saw a Goodreads giveaway for Windswept, I decided to enter. If anything, it sounded like one of those humorous science fiction books that are out on the market. Not one of those ‘oh my gosh I cannot breathe’ funny ones, but one to bring a smile to your face. Truthfully, I wouldn’t have been heartbroken if I hadn’t won the book. I wasn’t crazy obsessed with winning as I am with some other books (you know what I mean, those times where a book by your favourite author is named in a giveaway). Thus, when I woke up to find two emails from Goodreads informing me of winnings, I found my joy being transferred between the two books. I had won Windswept by Adam Rakunas (earning an ‘I can find out if this is worth it’ yay) and Sharp Ends by Joe Abercrombie (earning a ‘hooray for the short story collection that I am interested in’ yay), with the two combining to make an ‘oh my, I won two books and want to read them both now’ yay.
I debated reading Sharp Ends first, but in the end I went for Windswept. I’d just come out of reading the First Law trilogy, and whilst jumping straight into the short stories would have been fine, I felt like a break. I went into Windswept hoping for something much lighter, something other than the kind of high fantasy that leaves you reading at a slower pace than usual, and was not disappointed.
It was an easy read, but this is not at all a bad thing. Sometimes science fiction books can really weigh you down as information is thrown at you. My science knowledge is pretty decent (if you’ll accept a moment where I sound big-headed) yet this does not make me an astrophysicist, and it’s always nice when science fiction books are at a level where everyone can understand them. This one reads as though it’s set in the not too distant future: far enough away for the planet we’re on to be unique but similar enough to the modern world to prevent a headache from forming as you try to work your way around it. Whilst this world does have a decent amount for us to learn, it’s done in such a way that you feel as though it’s telling the story in the modern world. It is always great when science fiction books read in such a way. Honestly, there were so many points in favour of the story for that alone.
The story itself was great. The synopsis reads as though you’re in for a humorous story, but such isn’t what you’re given. There are a handful of moments to bring a smile to your face, but it’s not the kind to leave you chuckling at every other sentence. It’s a serious read with the occasional smidgen of humour thrown in, despite how the notion of the story could have you believing otherwise.
Honestly, I was truly blown away by how good it was.
Things were a little slow at first, but once the story got going it was a lot of fun. The characters were brilliant, there was plenty of action, there were many twists, and it makes you think. It truly was a surprising read. I can certainly see myself going on to read the next book.
Overall, a great surprise. I’m so glad I won this one.
I love science fiction books, yet I find myself thinking they’re often a case of hit or miss. Either every mark is hit or I’m left wanting something more. Of course there are varying degrees of the latter, but I often find myself reading books that fall into that category. More often than I’d like, science fiction books leave me wanting something more. This doesn’t stop me from reading more books in the genre, but it does mean I don’t go out of my way to read as many as I would like. I prefer to know I’m getting something good before picking up a science fiction book that could leave me disappointed.
When I saw a Goodreads giveaway for Windswept, I decided to enter. If anything, it sounded like one of those humorous science fiction books that are out on the market. Not one of those ‘oh my gosh I cannot breathe’ funny ones, but one to bring a smile to your face. Truthfully, I wouldn’t have been heartbroken if I hadn’t won the book. I wasn’t crazy obsessed with winning as I am with some other books (you know what I mean, those times where a book by your favourite author is named in a giveaway). Thus, when I woke up to find two emails from Goodreads informing me of winnings, I found my joy being transferred between the two books. I had won Windswept by Adam Rakunas (earning an ‘I can find out if this is worth it’ yay) and Sharp Ends by Joe Abercrombie (earning a ‘hooray for the short story collection that I am interested in’ yay), with the two combining to make an ‘oh my, I won two books and want to read them both now’ yay.
I debated reading Sharp Ends first, but in the end I went for Windswept. I’d just come out of reading the First Law trilogy, and whilst jumping straight into the short stories would have been fine, I felt like a break. I went into Windswept hoping for something much lighter, something other than the kind of high fantasy that leaves you reading at a slower pace than usual, and was not disappointed.
It was an easy read, but this is not at all a bad thing. Sometimes science fiction books can really weigh you down as information is thrown at you. My science knowledge is pretty decent (if you’ll accept a moment where I sound big-headed) yet this does not make me an astrophysicist, and it’s always nice when science fiction books are at a level where everyone can understand them. This one reads as though it’s set in the not too distant future: far enough away for the planet we’re on to be unique but similar enough to the modern world to prevent a headache from forming as you try to work your way around it. Whilst this world does have a decent amount for us to learn, it’s done in such a way that you feel as though it’s telling the story in the modern world. It is always great when science fiction books read in such a way. Honestly, there were so many points in favour of the story for that alone.
The story itself was great. The synopsis reads as though you’re in for a humorous story, but such isn’t what you’re given. There are a handful of moments to bring a smile to your face, but it’s not the kind to leave you chuckling at every other sentence. It’s a serious read with the occasional smidgen of humour thrown in, despite how the notion of the story could have you believing otherwise.
Honestly, I was truly blown away by how good it was.
Things were a little slow at first, but once the story got going it was a lot of fun. The characters were brilliant, there was plenty of action, there were many twists, and it makes you think. It truly was a surprising read. I can certainly see myself going on to read the next book.
Overall, a great surprise. I’m so glad I won this one.