Book Review: Grimspace

Grimspace

By:  Ann Aguirre

Publisher:  Ace Books

Publish Date:  March 2008

Format:  Paperback 312pgs, pocket book size

Genre:  Science Fiction

Series:  1st book in Sirantha Jax series

Recommendation:  Yes, And don't let the Science Fiction stop you.  This is a fun action read that keeps you turning the pages.

Book Synopsis:
By all accounts, Sirantha Jax should have burned out years ago...

As the carrier of a rare gene, Jax has the ability to jump ships through grimspace - a talent that cuts into her life expectancy but makes her a highly prized navigator for the Corp.  But then the ship she's navigating crash-lands, and she's accused of killing everyone on board.  It's hard for Jax to defend herself: She has no memory of the crash.

Imprisoned and subjected to a ruthless interrogation, Jax is on the verge of madness.  Then a mysterious man breaks into her cell, offering her freedom - for a price.  March needs Jax to help his small band of rogue fighters break the Corp monopoly on interstellar travel - and establish a new breed of jumper.

Jax is only good at one thing - grimspace - and it will eventually kill her.  So she may as well have some fun in the meantime...

First Sentence:
Are you afraid of falling, baby?

My Thoughts and Summary:
Sirantha Jax is, or was, a jumper for The Corp - until that crash happened.  The one where the pilot, crew, and political members being transported where killed.  It was a miracle Jax lived.  But now she finds herself incarcerated in a psych ward at the hospital with constant mental testing done on her, or maybe it's torture.  Then a mysterious man shows up and breaks her out of the hospital.  Jax now finds herself on a new mission that she thinks she doesn't want.  But one that could start a whole new batch of jumpers for people other than The Corp.  Now taken in by this new loner group; they plan on learning Jax's secrets to living through jumping for so long where others burnt out, then teach it to others to jump.  A new system of renegade jumpers to eliminate the tariffs of trade and use of The Corp.  But Jax soon learns this all goes deeper than that, all the way down to genetics.

Where do I start on this book.  This is a science fiction type read with the computers, technology used, and outer space setting.  We go on a space exploration which kind of feels like Star Trek.  But this is geared for even female readers who may not be big outer space fans.  I really liked the idea of jumping.  But I have to admit I had a hard time wrapping my brain around it at first.  I think I was trying to hard to understand every minor detail of the idea before it was all completely spelled out for me.  But once Jax was on her second jump, I was a pro to they systems and knew what was going on and loved what she saw.

The characters!  Oh, I loved the way these characters where all written.  I loved the whole small crew that Jax works with now.  They all have their own quirks and histories.  And I want to know all of it.  They humor and complement each other wonderfully.  As it's hard to pick my favorite character here I have to say I loved the relationship between March and Jax.  In the beginning Jax torments March with cruel death thoughts of him and straight forward hate thoughts.  Then when Jax realizes there has to be something special about March she does it to just get a rise out of him.  And it works!  They have quick comebacks that where just fun and made me chuckle and smile.  And the relationship grows between these two as the book goes.

The writing is great Ann Aguirre through and through.  She describes things in a way that is easy to understand and see in my minds eye.  Yes, I had a little bit of troubles at first with the jumping, but I was jumping to try to understand before Ann got through describing it to us.  Once she was through that I understood and could see it all working.  The Chapters are short and direct.  And the action never stops, which is a classic Ann Aguirre read.  She kept moving with the action and the relationships constantly.  I never got bored with the book.  It we went fighting, we where laughing.

I will be reading the next book in this series.


I purchased this book of my own accord for my reading pleasure.

This book qualifies for the Speculative Fiction Challenge, hosted by Floor to Ceiling books.