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A review by mary_soon_lee
Down Among the Dead by K.B. Wagers
3.0
This is the second book in the second science-fiction trilogy about Hail. Major spoilers ahead....
Hail is grieving, abused, and manipulated. Her captors repeatedly kill her and bring her back to life, while training her to fight even more viciously than she already could. She has suicidal thoughts and engages in self-harm. Along the way, she finds herself sympathetic to both of her principal captors (Aiz and Mia) and sexually attracted to one of the pair. This might be interpreted as Stockholm syndrome, except that the remainder of the book reads as if the reader, like Hail, should come to like Aiz and Mia. I, however, remained skeptical.
I found myself reading in a more critical mode than I'd been in for the first four books. Rather than accepting improbabilities because I was having fun, they made me cranky. For instance, a race of aliens have been prophesying Hail's arrival for thousands of years, up to and including having built numerous statues of her. I could not reconcile the universe of branching possibilities which this book posits with Hail's birth being foreseen centuries before her parents meet and a particular sperm fuses with a particular ovum to produce her.
Enough of my grumbling. On the plus side, I remain very fond of several of the supporting cast, most notably Emmory, Zin, and Hao, and enjoyed all their appearances.
I may have been in a sour mood, so let's call it three and a half out of five foretold stars, rounded down because I am still somewhat sour.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).
Spoiler
Hail began the first book of the first trilogy as a princess-turned-gunrunner and now begins this book as an imprisoned Empress. I enjoyed this book less than the preceding volumes. The first third, while Hail is imprisoned, is dark....Hail is grieving, abused, and manipulated. Her captors repeatedly kill her and bring her back to life, while training her to fight even more viciously than she already could. She has suicidal thoughts and engages in self-harm. Along the way, she finds herself sympathetic to both of her principal captors (Aiz and Mia) and sexually attracted to one of the pair. This might be interpreted as Stockholm syndrome, except that the remainder of the book reads as if the reader, like Hail, should come to like Aiz and Mia. I, however, remained skeptical.
I found myself reading in a more critical mode than I'd been in for the first four books. Rather than accepting improbabilities because I was having fun, they made me cranky. For instance, a race of aliens have been prophesying Hail's arrival for thousands of years, up to and including having built numerous statues of her. I could not reconcile the universe of branching possibilities which this book posits with Hail's birth being foreseen centuries before her parents meet and a particular sperm fuses with a particular ovum to produce her.
Enough of my grumbling. On the plus side, I remain very fond of several of the supporting cast, most notably Emmory, Zin, and Hao, and enjoyed all their appearances.
I may have been in a sour mood, so let's call it three and a half out of five foretold stars, rounded down because I am still somewhat sour.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).