by Arran Gimba ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 2019
An offbeat and enchanting space adventure.
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A princess and her long-suffering assistant explore the galaxy in this SF novel.
Elaine Durowich is a handmaiden to Princess Anastasia, the pampered, only daughter of the Greater Galactic Emperor and Empress. When Anastasia gets her heart set on seeing what’s outside the palace, Elaine has little choice but to tag along with her. The timing is hardly ideal, as the newly divorced Emperor and Empress are waging war against each other, and antiroyalist rumblings among the populace are getting louder every day. Nevertheless, after Anastasia falsely claims that her dad approved of the trip, she and Elaine set off on a journey to alien planets, including glitzy Paartay, which is effectively one giant rave, and Dump, a colony of rebellious teens who stage ridiculous, gladiator-style fights. The royals’ unpopularity puts a target on Anastasia’s back, so she and Elaine try to keep low profiles via aliases and disguises with varying success. After meeting a dashing revolutionary, Anastasia and Elaine stow away with a crew of geeky space pirates and even meet an intergalactic mob boss on planet Vegas. Things get more complicated when the Emperor and Empress disappear, leading the Empire’s top general to label the princess’s trip a kidnapping. By now, Elaine and Anastasia are also being tracked by alien assassin Mirret and her bloodthirsty “teddy bear”accomplice. Gimba, the author of Not So Heartwarming Stories(2019),has written a refreshingly zany work that has the potential to become a cult classic. The witty, third-person narration takes aim at everything from fandom culture to materialism and inequality, but it never takes a tone that feels preachy. Instead, Gimba delivers refreshingly funny dialogue and fresh worldbuilding. The leads are genuinely likable and don’t feel focus-grouped: Princess Anastasia is hilariously flighty and spoiled but ultimately kindhearted, and Elaine, the older and more levelheaded of the two, is as blunt as her bob haircut, but softhearted enough to pursue a possible love interest.
An offbeat and enchanting space adventure.Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-79424-159-6
Page Count: 392
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Arran Gimba
by Tamsyn Muir ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 10, 2019
Suspenseful and snarky with surprising emotional depths.
This debut novel, the first of a projected trilogy, blends science fiction, fantasy, gothic chiller, and classic house-party mystery.
Gideon Nav, a foundling of mysterious antecedents, was not so much adopted as indentured by the Ninth House, a nearly extinct noble necromantic house. Trained to fight, she wants nothing more than to leave the place where everyone despises her and join the Cohort, the imperial military. But after her most recent escape attempt fails, she finally gets the opportunity to depart the planet. The heir and secret ruler of the Ninth House, the ruthless and prodigiously talented bone adept Harrowhark Nonagesimus, chooses Gideon to serve her as cavalier primary, a sworn bodyguard and aide de camp, when the undying Emperor summons Harrow to compete for a position as a Lyctor, an elite, near-immortal adviser. The decaying Canaan House on the planet of the absent Emperor holds dark secrets and deadly puzzles as well as a cheerfully enigmatic priest who provides only scant details about the nature of the competition...and at least one person dedicated to brutally slaughtering the competitors. Unsure of how to mix with the necromancers and cavaliers from the other Houses, Gideon must decide whom among them she can trust—and her doubts include her own necromancer, Harrow, whom she’s loathed since childhood. This intriguing genre stew works surprisingly well. The limited locations and narrow focus mean that the author doesn’t really have to explain how people not directly attached to a necromantic House or the military actually conduct daily life in the Empire; hopefully future installments will open up the author’s creative universe a bit more. The most interesting aspect of the novel turns out to be the prickly but intimate relationship between Gideon and Harrow, bound together by what appears at first to be simple hatred. But the challenges of Canaan House expose other layers, beginning with a peculiar but compelling mutual loyalty and continuing on to other, more complex feelings, ties, and shared fraught experiences.
Suspenseful and snarky with surprising emotional depths.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-31319-5
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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by Daniel Suarez ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 24, 2023
An ambitious but plodding space odyssey.
Having survived a disastrous deep space mission in 2038, three asteroid miners plan a return to their abandoned ship to save two colleagues who were left behind.
Though bankrolled through a crooked money laundering scheme, their original project promised to put in place a program to reduce the CO2 levels on Earth, ease global warming, and pave the way for the future. The rescue mission, itself unsanctioned, doesn't have a much better chance of succeeding. All manner of technical mishaps, unplanned-for dangers, and cutthroat competition for the precious resources from the asteroid await the three miners. One of them has cancer. The international community opposes the mission, with China, Russia, and the United States sending questionable "observers" to the new space station that gets built north of the moon for the expedition. And then there is Space Titan Jack Macy, a rogue billionaire threatening to grab the riches. (As one character says, "It's a free universe.") Suarez's basic story is a good one, with tense moments, cool robot surrogates, and virtual reality visions. But too much of the novel consists of long, sometimes bloated stretches of technical description, discussions of newfangled financing for "off-world" projects, and at least one unneeded backstory. So little actually happens that fixing the station's faulty plumbing becomes a significant plot point. For those who want to know everything about "silicon photovoltaics" and "orthostatic intolerance," Suarez's latest SF saga will be right up their alley. But for those itching for less talk and more action, the book's many pages of setup become wearing.
An ambitious but plodding space odyssey.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-18363-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
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