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A review by margaretadelle
Dakiti by E.J. Fisch
4.0
I'm a huge fan of sci-fi in general, especially space operas and military sci-fi, so when the author offered me this book for review, I was more than happy to read it.
I loved the premise immediately, with two people who had every reason to hate each other forced to work together. Admittedly, I wish it had been slightly more emphasized in the first part. For example, if Aroska had talked about what his brother was like or the crime he was accused of. But I did appreciate the sexual tension and how Ziva's strength wasn't an issue for Aroska. He accepted her abilities as fact, even as much as he hated her, and it made for a strange mix of hate and respect that I liked.
Zinni and Skeet were also characters I hadn't expected to love, but I loved the portions of the story that featured them on their own. I was a little annoyed at Skeet basically explaining Ziva to Aroska (and therefore the reader) but it wasn't any more than the usual amount of exposition. And the pair's parts together in the second half of the story were always exciting.
The biggest struggle I had for the book, and the reasons I knocked off a star, was how the plot seemed to lurch ahead. The newly formed team really only had one true mission together (aside from impromptu bits of action) so it feels like they jump to the big mission at the end. The time spent at the titular facility made up nearly a third of the page time. I didn't mind it's length, it was properly dramatic and explosive, as all fights in military sci-fi should be. But I couldn't help but feel there should have been a smaller mission leading up to it, like a test run for the newly formed team.
Other than that, it's a great book. I would definitely put it more in military sci-fi, so someone looking for a pure space opera probably won't get what they're looking for. But if you like shoot-outs with plasma rifles, it's a good pick.
I loved the premise immediately, with two people who had every reason to hate each other forced to work together. Admittedly, I wish it had been slightly more emphasized in the first part. For example, if Aroska had talked about what his brother was like or the crime he was accused of. But I did appreciate the sexual tension and how Ziva's strength wasn't an issue for Aroska. He accepted her abilities as fact, even as much as he hated her, and it made for a strange mix of hate and respect that I liked.
Zinni and Skeet were also characters I hadn't expected to love, but I loved the portions of the story that featured them on their own. I was a little annoyed at Skeet basically explaining Ziva to Aroska (and therefore the reader) but it wasn't any more than the usual amount of exposition. And the pair's parts together in the second half of the story were always exciting.
The biggest struggle I had for the book, and the reasons I knocked off a star, was how the plot seemed to lurch ahead. The newly formed team really only had one true mission together (aside from impromptu bits of action) so it feels like they jump to the big mission at the end. The time spent at the titular facility made up nearly a third of the page time. I didn't mind it's length, it was properly dramatic and explosive, as all fights in military sci-fi should be. But I couldn't help but feel there should have been a smaller mission leading up to it, like a test run for the newly formed team.
Other than that, it's a great book. I would definitely put it more in military sci-fi, so someone looking for a pure space opera probably won't get what they're looking for. But if you like shoot-outs with plasma rifles, it's a good pick.