Polaris Rising
I took a deep breath and reined in my wayward body. “I want many things,” I said honestly, “but I should get up.”
In a nutshell..
The Sidney Bristow (not really her name) of Space Princesses runs away from home rather than be the trophy wife in a high-stakes Game of Thrones style space monarchy. She runs, she dives, she shoots, she kicks ass in no uncertain terms, all in order to find a safe haven away from those that want to take away her freedom.
Uninvited Insight
This is not a romance book - despite the quote above, but rather a satisfying hard science fiction novel with a character that doesn't let the fact that she's a science fiction character in a science fiction world subsume her drives, emotions and carnal wants, while at the same time foregrounding her brilliance.
Ada von Hasenberg is on the run from her family so she won't be married off as part of a political gambit. She is an educated and trained Lady of her House that uses all her wit and skills to stay one step ahead of her family and rival families. Then she meets Marcus Loch - a man with a dark history - who seems to have recognized an opportunity in Ada. The interesting thing is, Ada recognizes an opportunity too, thus setting these two on a collision course with...everyone.
Regarding Bujold
Lois McMaster Bujold, noted award winning author created a strong dynamic female character when she was fleshing out the backstory for her most famous character, Miles Vorkosigan. Cordelia Naismith, Mile's mother was herself a Captain and Leader of the Betan Expeditionary Force Ship (deep dive - sorry) who fell in love with a man who came from a backward space-faring gender role defined Empire.
In the books, Shards of Honor and sequel, Barrayar, Cordelia with grit and determination fights for the man she loves - by taking on his lover, a mad cruel despot, then reshapes the planet and Empire of Barrayar with a swing of a sword. Cordelia was a revelation, an icon that was missed because the assumption was that hard science fiction does not have these characters.
With Polaris Rising, another watershed moment, Jessie Mihalik creates a dirty, messy science fiction heroine who changes her world, her universe by her actions and deeds. Her wants and yearns are earnest and real, while once again, at the same time, we have vivid descriptions of jump gate procedures and the need for engine cooldown periods.
Regarding the Female Gaze in Genre Writing
Yes please.
Loch is not the co-lead in this book - we see him through Ada's eyes, from his brutal take-downs of enemies combatants to the lines his muscles make under his top. Mihalik never devolves Loch to eye candy, although who knows what would happen if the character roles were reversed, and the moments of intense wanting/yearning behavior are never cheap - they resonate with emotional context and agency.
Librarian's Final Word
Read this book. It breathes fresh life into Science Fiction and reinvents the type of character only glimpsed at in early Science Fiction novels, for today. And Jessie Mihalik, where Bujold ended with Cordelia, she takes up anew with the brilliant Ada.
Disclaimer
This is my first semi-regular review thing where I will randomly drop an interesting bit of prose from the book I am currently reading and discuss or muse - generally just wax lyrical in an attempt to be reasonably smart - ish.
My guiding principles for reviewing books are:
Be kind.
Dump some uninvited insight in the most entertaining way possible.
Just have fun with it to draw your fickle attention to a writer(s) that's put their heart and soul into this, their creative endeavor(s)
This is my first semi-regular review thing where I will randomly drop an interesting bit of prose from the book I am currently reading and discuss or muse - generally just wax lyrical in an attempt to be reasonably smart - ish.
My guiding principles for reviewing books are:
Be kind.
Dump some uninvited insight in the most entertaining way possible.
Just have fun with it to draw your fickle attention to a writer(s) that's put their heart and soul into this, their creative endeavor(s).
Today's book is:
Aurora Rising
"Everything it's touched.
Absorbed.
Embraced
I'm everything.
I'm nothing.
I'm me.
I'm ... "
In a nutshell..
Near Future Girl gets flung into the Far Future, complicates some lives while acclimating to Aliens, new rules and warrior Space Elves!
Uninvited Insight
Aurora Rising is an adventure filled drop into the future.
Aurora our titular character is a young woman from the future catapulted into the further future by a space anomaly, which in turn triggers a vast conspiracy that plunks her into a rollicking space opera adventure that reminds me so much of Mass Effect, Farscape with echoes of Valerian and a hint of David Weber's Honor Harrington style of Military Science Fiction.
So to unpack some of the above references:
The Mass Effect of it.
A squad of interplanetary universal peace keepers led by Tyler and Scarlett - twin siblings, with Ace pilot Cat, and the bottom of the barrel crew of wonderfully rendered misfits Zila (Mad Science Support), Kal (Warrior Space Elf!) and the wonderfully complicated Finn (Tech Support and Sarcasm) - they are the Z-list squad given the mundane task of dropping off some medical supplies - in other words "a simple job".
Side note: "Simple Job" should be added to the genre lexicon of things not to say while out on business, or buying eggs.
A simple job, is rarely simple, however a simple job in space - an environment designed to suck your insides out - is just asking for adventure or death, possibly adventurous death.
Farscape - Trouble and then some.
The shifting character perspective in each chapter gives us good insight into character motivations and their unique alien perspectives of future humanity - we are walking-talking hopeless causes, tilting at windmills as we blunder through space armed with limited knowledge, well meaning intent and the survival instincts of fruit flies.
Aurora's disrupt intro Tyler's carefully prepared strategy for squad selection so he can be the kick ass hero of the Legion, is when the characters start to shed their various boxes defined by their military roles.
When they finally realize their importance in helping Aurora, the story picks up speed and tension as relationships start to strain between the squad members.
Honor Harrington - Kicking ass in the name of the Legion
The world-building is solid science fiction and presents a universe that is still mired in political intrigue and (surprise-surprise) war. A peace keeping force (The Legion) keeps everything from sliding into entropy - this is Tyler and his crew. Each member has their own reason for joining and that is slowly revealed as the novel rockets along - the comfort of regulations and rules offers some solace for all and their various issues but the wildcard Aurora shakes loose the personal issues for all us dear readers to see, and it's wonderful.
So do read this fun first book of the Aurora series. If you looking for hard science fiction, go read Asimov, if you looking for a ripping story that is a YA, science fiction, action/adventure, with added Space Elf - Aurora Rising is the book you're looking for.
Librarian's Final Word
If you're in the library and you've blown through the Heist Society series but want something different yet with the same free-wheeling adventure with some high stakes action - this librarian says take it for a week loan, because you're bringing it back in two days.
