As the carrier of a rare gene, Sirantha Jax has the ability to jump ships through grimspace-a talent which makes her a highly prized navigator for the Corp. Then a crash landing kills everyone on board, leaving Jax in a jail cell with no memory of the crash. But her fun’s not over. A group of rogue fighters frees her…for a price: her help in overthrowing the established order.
I read this book as part of my Suck It up And Read It Challenge where I challenge myself to read books I would not have normally read. To kick off my challenge I decided to choose a book from my least favorite genre and give it a chance. Since the goal is to succeed in the challenge I chose a book with romance because I am, after all, a romance reader at heart. Grimspace came highly recommended by many of my fellow romance reading friends.
First Impressions: Part of the reason I shy away from Sci-Fi is my inability to visualize unfamiliar settings. I find it frustrating and distracting when I keep forgetting unfamiliar terms etc. and that usually takes away from the story for me since setting is so important in Sci-Fi. However after a couple of chapters I felt fairly comfortable in the world of Sirantha Jax. While the world is most certainly different and futuristic, I was not overwhelmed with scary, Sci-Fi beings, gadgets, and machines. The writing was descriptive enough to place me comfortably in the setting but not so much that I felt as if I was being overwhelmed with information.
The Hero: March is a hardened hero that seemed to have a connection to Sirantha early on. I always had the sense that he knew so much more than he let on and at times I found it frustrating that he held back. I couldn’t actually figure out if it was a romantic connection at first but once that was established March turned out to be a very passionate hero. I loved the chemistry between him and Sirantha.
The Heroine: Sirantha was one of those heroines that take a little while to warm up to. On the surface she seemed a bit selfish and self-centered, determined to make things harder than they needed to be. However she carries a lot of guilt and blames herself for the death of her lover and several other people. Because the story is written in first person there is lot of introspection from her. Sirantha grows and changes throughout the book and becomes a very likable heroine. She also kicks ass and takes names now and then.
The Action: Wow, the action! This book was a non-stop thrill ride. I was completely caught off guard with the intensity of the action scenes, as well as the complexity of relationships. Yes, I put the relationships under the heading “The Action” because not only was the romance intense but the friendships—some of them unlikely—were emotionally powerful.
Final conclusion: While I’m not convinced I should move the Sci-Fi genre up to the top of my ‘to-read’ list I will certainly be moving this series up. I am a Jax fan (As well as Ann Aguirre) and I look forward to reading more in the amazingly gritty, intense world of Sirantha Jax.
Favorite Quote:
“We’re both so fucking broken that I understand our strange attraction, a push-pull magnetism born of similar scars.”
Grimspace by Ann Aguirre
February 26th 2008 by Ace
Romantic Science Fiction
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About Sophia (FV)
omg that quote made my heart flutter. This book was so dark but so awesome. This is probably the only series I will ever read in the Sci-Fi genre, I just love ANN AGUIRRE’s take on it. She is such a mastermind storyteller. I am excited for you to get to Killbox
I have this series sitting on my bookshelf. I really need to get my ass in gear and read it. LOL.
Glad you liked it!
I only skimmed because I’m reading this one next. But I loved that quote and I like your rating! All good signs. lol
@Spaz: Yes, that’s a great quote and so reflective of the relationship.
@The Queen B: Oh yes, make time for this one. So worth it.
@Julie: I hope you enjoy it.
Isn’t it great when you’re completely surprised by a book/series. So glad to hear you loved this!
@Jessica (The Spinecracker): You know I suspected I would like it based on the recommendations I got however I was surprised at how much I liked it. I really wasn’t read for it to be over.
I STILL have not read book 2, horrible really
I guess I’m totally sleep on the game. After Larry Niven’s, Integral Trees and Smoke Ring [yes YEARS ago], I kind of sci-fi scene, but after reading this post. OMG, I think I definitely need to check out Ann Aguirre. GREAT review & post!
@blodeuedd: I forgive you. But if you continue to slack we will have words.
@kd: Yes, give this series a go. I highly recommend it.
That quote caused a lump in my throat when I first read Grimspace.
I don’t read a lot of sci-for, but this sounds great!
Pleasantly surprised, I am. Can’t say I read my sci-fi. I recently tried a YA sci-fi and it was a DNF for me, but the heroine sounds like one that can grown on you.
Love the quote.
@KC: I know, I love that quote.
@Estella: Get on this!
@Missie: Oh yes, Jax is a great heroine.
I wasn’t sure if I’d like this but I really did. I’m going to rec it to my dad after he finishes the Mercy Thompson series…
@Patti (BookAddict): Oh how cool, you have someone to share books with.
That quote sums them up so well…this series is so darn good! So glad you started it!
I am so happy to see that you can challenge yourself to read something you wouldn’t normally read and then on top of that you almost completely loved it! Maybe after you read the rest of this series certain types of Sci-fi will make it to the top of your list.
So pleased you finally read this – I got this rec from Mandi and I loved the series so far..
As for the word building – I really love the fact the author kept some norm – like Mad Max sort of scenario so it wan’t too big a stretch to understand the world…
and of course everyone knows how a compound works – so the insulated power struggle thing I thought was well done..
Carry on reading – more good stuff left to come..