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Theirs Not to Reason Why #1
A Soldier's Duty
Ia is a precog, tormented by visions of the future where her home galaxy has been devastated. To prevent this vision from coming true, Ia enlists in the Terran United Planets military with a plan to become a soldier who will inspire generations for the next three hundred years-a soldier history will call Bloody Mary.
434 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 26, 2011
188 people are currently reading
4959 people want to read
About the author
Jean Johnson
51 books818 followersBerkley/Jove Authors Bio
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
(1)romance author, science fiction author
Jean Johnson currently lives in the Pacific Northwest, has played in the SCA for 25 years, sings a lot, and argues with her cat about territorial rights to her office chair. She loves hearing from her readers, and has a distinct sense of humor. Right now she's living in a home with zone heating & decent plumbing, but hopes to some day put turrets and ramparts on it so that it looks like a castle.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
(1)romance author, science fiction author
Jean Johnson currently lives in the Pacific Northwest, has played in the SCA for 25 years, sings a lot, and argues with her cat about territorial rights to her office chair. She loves hearing from her readers, and has a distinct sense of humor. Right now she's living in a home with zone heating & decent plumbing, but hopes to some day put turrets and ramparts on it so that it looks like a castle.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 382 reviews
January 12, 2019
“No. I am not Death. I am merely Her herald.”
After a prophetic vision of the destruction of our galaxy, a young girl decides to set events into motion that will have far reaching effects, with the hope of averting the future disaster. This is book 1 in a series.
All I have left are the nightmares, and the slim chance I can help save the universe.
As derivative as this premise sounds, don’t shoot it down just yet. For one thing, despite the rather suspicious cover art, this is an actual bona fide Military Science Fiction story, and not something else posing as such. For another, even though the opening paragraph of this review clearly invokes echoes of Hari Seldon (Foundation), this isn’t quite the same thing at all.
Dead bodies. Seared bodies. Scorched, frozen, bloated, stripped, mutilated bodies. Eyes wide, she saw nothing but bodies and barren, lifeless dirt.
As the story progresses, several layers are peeled away, revealing all kinds of fascinating tidbits, such as how Ia came by her precog abilities. It is not the best paced story I have read, considering that it is a Mil-SF novel, but stick with it: it is rather rewarding.
A curious amount of detail is, at times, expended on mundane events, such as, for example, getting dressed or going to the bathroom. This is not a criticism as much as an observation; I seem to recall L.E. Modesitt Jr. doing the same thing.
“Space is not the place for ammunition mistakes.”
I appreciated the level of detail as soon as the depictions of the firearms started. There is a great amount of interchangeability and flexibility introduced in both energy and projectile weapons, and it’s somewhat important to understand just how these things work. Remember: this is Military Sci-Fi, so things will get blown to smithereens at some point.
Caught off guard, Ia and her fellow recruits scrambled to get into position.
One of the more interesting aspects of the novel, for me, was how unfolding events sometimes differed from Ia’s foreseen future. This makes for a fascinating dilemma, if you read between the lines. Is Ia for real, or just a delusional girl (with a gift) suffering from a messiah complex?
“Where are all the crewmembers?” [He] asked quietly after a few minutes of searching.
A Soldier’s Duty boasts an interesting array of extra-terrestrial critters, but this is one area where details are sparse. I’m guessing some exposition can be expected going forward, since some of these will no doubt feature in future instalments – notably the energy based Feyori who seem to take their kicks from meddling in the affairs of other species, and the sinister Salik.
And you can bet as sure as hellfire and damnation that they wouldn’t be nice to us while they’re interrogating us, one tasty slice at a time!
Sometimes Ia’s precognitive omnipotence and psionic skills can be a bit annoying, but it is also the very thing that distinguishes A Soldier’s Duty from the crowd (unless you’ve been mistaking her for a Jedi). The novel goes to great lengths to foreshadow future series events, so it’s clear that this story could turn into a long(ish) one. I’m hoping I will be able to remember everything when I get to the end.
Ia nodded. She knew what was coming.
An easy 3.5
Read as part of the annual must-read agreement with my wife.
After a prophetic vision of the destruction of our galaxy, a young girl decides to set events into motion that will have far reaching effects, with the hope of averting the future disaster. This is book 1 in a series.
All I have left are the nightmares, and the slim chance I can help save the universe.
As derivative as this premise sounds, don’t shoot it down just yet. For one thing, despite the rather suspicious cover art, this is an actual bona fide Military Science Fiction story, and not something else posing as such. For another, even though the opening paragraph of this review clearly invokes echoes of Hari Seldon (Foundation), this isn’t quite the same thing at all.
Dead bodies. Seared bodies. Scorched, frozen, bloated, stripped, mutilated bodies. Eyes wide, she saw nothing but bodies and barren, lifeless dirt.
As the story progresses, several layers are peeled away, revealing all kinds of fascinating tidbits, such as how Ia came by her precog abilities. It is not the best paced story I have read, considering that it is a Mil-SF novel, but stick with it: it is rather rewarding.
A curious amount of detail is, at times, expended on mundane events, such as, for example, getting dressed or going to the bathroom. This is not a criticism as much as an observation; I seem to recall L.E. Modesitt Jr. doing the same thing.
“Space is not the place for ammunition mistakes.”
I appreciated the level of detail as soon as the depictions of the firearms started. There is a great amount of interchangeability and flexibility introduced in both energy and projectile weapons, and it’s somewhat important to understand just how these things work. Remember: this is Military Sci-Fi, so things will get blown to smithereens at some point.
Caught off guard, Ia and her fellow recruits scrambled to get into position.
One of the more interesting aspects of the novel, for me, was how unfolding events sometimes differed from Ia’s foreseen future. This makes for a fascinating dilemma, if you read between the lines. Is Ia for real, or just a delusional girl (with a gift) suffering from a messiah complex?
“Where are all the crewmembers?” [He] asked quietly after a few minutes of searching.
A Soldier’s Duty boasts an interesting array of extra-terrestrial critters, but this is one area where details are sparse. I’m guessing some exposition can be expected going forward, since some of these will no doubt feature in future instalments – notably the energy based Feyori who seem to take their kicks from meddling in the affairs of other species, and the sinister Salik.
And you can bet as sure as hellfire and damnation that they wouldn’t be nice to us while they’re interrogating us, one tasty slice at a time!
Sometimes Ia’s precognitive omnipotence and psionic skills can be a bit annoying, but it is also the very thing that distinguishes A Soldier’s Duty from the crowd (unless you’ve been mistaking her for a Jedi). The novel goes to great lengths to foreshadow future series events, so it’s clear that this story could turn into a long(ish) one. I’m hoping I will be able to remember everything when I get to the end.
Ia nodded. She knew what was coming.
An easy 3.5
Read as part of the annual must-read agreement with my wife.
May 19, 2018
Have I told how descriptive this book was? If so, let me reiterate: it is extremely rich in descriptions of the minute details!
A future world. Space marines, huh-huh.
A lot of Time and its rivers. And of course, our paranormal gal, a marine and a priestess, who is a self-appointed superhero. Aaand her 2 mothers.
Q:
This will take more than a lifetime to make happen (c)
Q:
You may struggle to turn your Fate into your Destiny, but the Future is inescapable; it will drag you forward kicking and screaming.” (c)
Q:
“Name?”“Ia.” Back straight, hands clasped in her lap, she waited for him to comment. She pronounced it EE-yah, not the EYE-ah most people assumed. “Just like it says on my ident.”
...
“So. What is your full legal name, meioa?” he asked.“My full legal name is Ia. Capital I, lowercase a. Ia,” she repeated. “Nothing more, and nothing less.”
The corner of his mouth quirked up for a moment. “With a name that short, I don’t see how you could have anything less.” (c)
Q:
“Sanctuary’s Charter was actually sponsored by I.C. Eiaven,” she clarified. “That cuts the paperwork down to almost nothing.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Eiaven is almost the exact opposite direction from here,” he pointed out, lowering his brows in a doubtful frown. “Most sponsoring worlds are next to each other, not hundreds of light-years apart.”
Ia didn’t let his skepticism faze her. Rather, she welcomed it as a positive sign that she was doing the right thing at the right time.
“That’s true for most worlds, but most heavyworlds are sponsored by Eiaven. Sanctuary is merely the latest to prove itself viable. Article VII, Section B, Paragraph14, subparagraphs c, g, h, and j of the Sanctuary Charter—duly registered with the Alliance—state that, as a Sanctuarian citizen, all I have to do to join either the Terran or the V’Dan military is to take the Oath of Service as a recruit, and my citizenship will automatically transfer to the appropriate government. We’re not so much an independent colonyworld as an interdependent one. Life on a heavyworld is tough enough without adding political troubles, and both Human governments recognized this long ago. Eiaven and its sponsored colonies are legally considered joint neutral territory.
“If I choose to serve in the Terran military, I automatically become a Terran citizen, with all the rights, responsibilities, and privileges thereof, and disavowing all rights to V’Dan citizenship, should I choose to do so. Which I do, which is why I am here,” she said.
“And you came all the way to Earth, almost seven hundred light-years from home, just to do so?” he repeated, still skeptical. “Exactly on your eighteenth birthday?”
“Yes, meioa,” Ia admitted, reminding herself to be patient. “Provided I am a full, legal adult—which I now am—I can join up at any Recruitment Center anywhere across the Terran United Planets. I just happened to pick Melbourne, Australia Province, Earth. I’d also like to join the TUPSF-Marine Corps in specific, which is why I’m sitting here in front of you, meioa-o, instead of one of the other officers at this facility,” Ia stated patiently. “You are the local recruitment officer for the TUPSF-MC,” she reminded him, pronouncing the acronym tup-siff -mick. “Now, may I please do so?”
“And your name is just . . . Ia?” the lieutenant major asked dubiously. “The military needs more than that to be able to identify you, meioa-e.” (c)
Q:
“It says here you’re an ordained priestess with some subsect of the Witan Order. If you’re ordained, why aren’t you aiming at the Special Forces for a chaplaincy?”
Ia shook her head. There was a reason why she had listed her priestess status on her application form, but not for that one. “I’m a priestess for personal reasons, not professional ones, sir. I’ll be better used in fighting to save lives, not souls.” (c)
Q:
If I didn’t have to go to a specific Camp at a specific point in time, I would’ve picked a more congenial recruiter . . . but this one needs to fill his recruitment quota. If I can antagonize him just enough, prick his pride, push the right buttons, he’ll not try to push me into a different path, based on my testing. The last thing I need is to be thrown into an officers’ academy right now. ...
A more congenial soul would be eager to help me, ruining everything I have planned.I cannot let him get in my way. (c)
Q:
Sinking cross-legged onto the cushion, she didn’t look up at the rotating stars of the spiral galaxy overhead. Instead, she propped her elbows on her knees and slouched her chin into her hands. Thinking of home, I should take a look at how things are going back there.
Closing her eyes, Ia turned her thoughts inward, then out, like a gymnast flipping around a bar. She had always been able to see glimpses of the future, and sometimes even peek into the past, but as a young child, the ability had been sporadic and rarely under her control. But once she had understood that she was seeing the future, her younger self had struggled to control her psychic abilities. She had even sought instruction, what little there was of it on her far-flung, backwater, recently settled homeworld. (c)
Q:
“Are you falling asleep already? I thought you Marines were tough!” (c)
Q:
“Missionary trip?” The question came from the short, balding man on the other side of the aisle. He gave the woman, Amanda, a derogatory look, snorting, “Great. Another godless heathen,” before returning his attention to the book pad in his hands.
“Excuse me?” Amanda asked, her tone and her expression both taken aback. “I am not a godless heathen, I am a Christian!”
The man gave her a look somewhere between disdain and pity. “Even worse, then. A deluded polytheist.”
The woman started to protest. Ia quickly reached over and touched her sleeve. “Don’t.”
“But he—”
“Just don’t,” Ia murmured again, cutting her off. “See the corona pin on his jacket lapel? He’s a member of the Church of the One True God.”
“I . . . don’t understand,” Amanda muttered. She glanced back and forth between Ia and the man, finally settling on Ia. “Aren’t they Christians, too? I thought their worship was based on the same general beliefs. One loving God, Abrahamic teachings . . .”
“So are Muslims and Jews, if you measure it by that method . . . but no, they are not Christians, they are not Muslims, they are not Jews,” Ia told her, flicking up one finger per listing. “In fact, if you must get technical, their dogma actually began as an offshoot of The Witan: The Book of the Wise.”
“We are not an ‘offshoot’ of anything. We are on the true path,” the man across the aisle corrected tartly. His eyes were on the text of his book pad, but his ears were clearly listening to his neighbors. “Not my fault if the rest of you have been misled by the sweet-sounding poison of the Devil’s books. The Bible, the Koran, the Torah . . .”
“Well, I never!” Amanda gasped, visibly upset.
“Meioas.”
...
“I am on Leave from two years’ worth of fighting on the far side of the known galaxy.” That was a slight exaggeration, but she wasn’t going to bother with the full truth. “It has taken me three weeks of travel to get this far. I have exactly three weeks, one day, and four hours from the moment we land, precious, precious days and hours to spend with my family, before I have to go back. I would therefore like to finish this last, tedious leg of my journey in peace and quiet.”
“You’d be better off spending those three weeks on your knees in Our Blessed Cathedral, confessing the sins of spilling blood on some godless heathen’s orders,” the balding believer retorted.
Ia gave him a not-smile. “And I say unto you in reply, from Book Nine, The Righteous War, Chapter Three, verses four and five: ‘Succor the weary and wounded soldiers who claim Sanctuary and take shelter among you. Give them rest and peace, and honor them for the sacrifices they make for the betterment of all.’ ”
He reddened a bit, having his own holy words flung in his face.
“I am a weary soldier of Sanctuary,” Ia reminded him, speaking softly, but with enough point to cut to the bone, “and I am here to take shelter among my people. Give me my rest and peace, and honor me for the sacrifices I make . . . or spend your weeks on your knees, for failing to follow through on God’s Own True Words.” (c) I'm wondering, was this inspired a bit by Voltaire's well-known scene in Zadig?
Q:
“Will She spare your soul another year?” (c)
Q:
Tense, they waited for the future to once again drag them under. (c)
A future world. Space marines, huh-huh.
A lot of Time and its rivers. And of course, our paranormal gal, a marine and a priestess, who is a self-appointed superhero. Aaand her 2 mothers.
Q:
This will take more than a lifetime to make happen (c)
Q:
You may struggle to turn your Fate into your Destiny, but the Future is inescapable; it will drag you forward kicking and screaming.” (c)
Q:
“Name?”“Ia.” Back straight, hands clasped in her lap, she waited for him to comment. She pronounced it EE-yah, not the EYE-ah most people assumed. “Just like it says on my ident.”
...
“So. What is your full legal name, meioa?” he asked.“My full legal name is Ia. Capital I, lowercase a. Ia,” she repeated. “Nothing more, and nothing less.”
The corner of his mouth quirked up for a moment. “With a name that short, I don’t see how you could have anything less.” (c)
Q:
“Sanctuary’s Charter was actually sponsored by I.C. Eiaven,” she clarified. “That cuts the paperwork down to almost nothing.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Eiaven is almost the exact opposite direction from here,” he pointed out, lowering his brows in a doubtful frown. “Most sponsoring worlds are next to each other, not hundreds of light-years apart.”
Ia didn’t let his skepticism faze her. Rather, she welcomed it as a positive sign that she was doing the right thing at the right time.
“That’s true for most worlds, but most heavyworlds are sponsored by Eiaven. Sanctuary is merely the latest to prove itself viable. Article VII, Section B, Paragraph14, subparagraphs c, g, h, and j of the Sanctuary Charter—duly registered with the Alliance—state that, as a Sanctuarian citizen, all I have to do to join either the Terran or the V’Dan military is to take the Oath of Service as a recruit, and my citizenship will automatically transfer to the appropriate government. We’re not so much an independent colonyworld as an interdependent one. Life on a heavyworld is tough enough without adding political troubles, and both Human governments recognized this long ago. Eiaven and its sponsored colonies are legally considered joint neutral territory.
“If I choose to serve in the Terran military, I automatically become a Terran citizen, with all the rights, responsibilities, and privileges thereof, and disavowing all rights to V’Dan citizenship, should I choose to do so. Which I do, which is why I am here,” she said.
“And you came all the way to Earth, almost seven hundred light-years from home, just to do so?” he repeated, still skeptical. “Exactly on your eighteenth birthday?”
“Yes, meioa,” Ia admitted, reminding herself to be patient. “Provided I am a full, legal adult—which I now am—I can join up at any Recruitment Center anywhere across the Terran United Planets. I just happened to pick Melbourne, Australia Province, Earth. I’d also like to join the TUPSF-Marine Corps in specific, which is why I’m sitting here in front of you, meioa-o, instead of one of the other officers at this facility,” Ia stated patiently. “You are the local recruitment officer for the TUPSF-MC,” she reminded him, pronouncing the acronym tup-siff -mick. “Now, may I please do so?”
“And your name is just . . . Ia?” the lieutenant major asked dubiously. “The military needs more than that to be able to identify you, meioa-e.” (c)
Q:
“It says here you’re an ordained priestess with some subsect of the Witan Order. If you’re ordained, why aren’t you aiming at the Special Forces for a chaplaincy?”
Ia shook her head. There was a reason why she had listed her priestess status on her application form, but not for that one. “I’m a priestess for personal reasons, not professional ones, sir. I’ll be better used in fighting to save lives, not souls.” (c)
Q:
If I didn’t have to go to a specific Camp at a specific point in time, I would’ve picked a more congenial recruiter . . . but this one needs to fill his recruitment quota. If I can antagonize him just enough, prick his pride, push the right buttons, he’ll not try to push me into a different path, based on my testing. The last thing I need is to be thrown into an officers’ academy right now. ...
A more congenial soul would be eager to help me, ruining everything I have planned.I cannot let him get in my way. (c)
Q:
Sinking cross-legged onto the cushion, she didn’t look up at the rotating stars of the spiral galaxy overhead. Instead, she propped her elbows on her knees and slouched her chin into her hands. Thinking of home, I should take a look at how things are going back there.
Closing her eyes, Ia turned her thoughts inward, then out, like a gymnast flipping around a bar. She had always been able to see glimpses of the future, and sometimes even peek into the past, but as a young child, the ability had been sporadic and rarely under her control. But once she had understood that she was seeing the future, her younger self had struggled to control her psychic abilities. She had even sought instruction, what little there was of it on her far-flung, backwater, recently settled homeworld. (c)
Q:
“Are you falling asleep already? I thought you Marines were tough!” (c)
Q:
“Missionary trip?” The question came from the short, balding man on the other side of the aisle. He gave the woman, Amanda, a derogatory look, snorting, “Great. Another godless heathen,” before returning his attention to the book pad in his hands.
“Excuse me?” Amanda asked, her tone and her expression both taken aback. “I am not a godless heathen, I am a Christian!”
The man gave her a look somewhere between disdain and pity. “Even worse, then. A deluded polytheist.”
The woman started to protest. Ia quickly reached over and touched her sleeve. “Don’t.”
“But he—”
“Just don’t,” Ia murmured again, cutting her off. “See the corona pin on his jacket lapel? He’s a member of the Church of the One True God.”
“I . . . don’t understand,” Amanda muttered. She glanced back and forth between Ia and the man, finally settling on Ia. “Aren’t they Christians, too? I thought their worship was based on the same general beliefs. One loving God, Abrahamic teachings . . .”
“So are Muslims and Jews, if you measure it by that method . . . but no, they are not Christians, they are not Muslims, they are not Jews,” Ia told her, flicking up one finger per listing. “In fact, if you must get technical, their dogma actually began as an offshoot of The Witan: The Book of the Wise.”
“We are not an ‘offshoot’ of anything. We are on the true path,” the man across the aisle corrected tartly. His eyes were on the text of his book pad, but his ears were clearly listening to his neighbors. “Not my fault if the rest of you have been misled by the sweet-sounding poison of the Devil’s books. The Bible, the Koran, the Torah . . .”
“Well, I never!” Amanda gasped, visibly upset.
“Meioas.”
...
“I am on Leave from two years’ worth of fighting on the far side of the known galaxy.” That was a slight exaggeration, but she wasn’t going to bother with the full truth. “It has taken me three weeks of travel to get this far. I have exactly three weeks, one day, and four hours from the moment we land, precious, precious days and hours to spend with my family, before I have to go back. I would therefore like to finish this last, tedious leg of my journey in peace and quiet.”
“You’d be better off spending those three weeks on your knees in Our Blessed Cathedral, confessing the sins of spilling blood on some godless heathen’s orders,” the balding believer retorted.
Ia gave him a not-smile. “And I say unto you in reply, from Book Nine, The Righteous War, Chapter Three, verses four and five: ‘Succor the weary and wounded soldiers who claim Sanctuary and take shelter among you. Give them rest and peace, and honor them for the sacrifices they make for the betterment of all.’ ”
He reddened a bit, having his own holy words flung in his face.
“I am a weary soldier of Sanctuary,” Ia reminded him, speaking softly, but with enough point to cut to the bone, “and I am here to take shelter among my people. Give me my rest and peace, and honor me for the sacrifices I make . . . or spend your weeks on your knees, for failing to follow through on God’s Own True Words.” (c) I'm wondering, was this inspired a bit by Voltaire's well-known scene in Zadig?
Q:
“Will She spare your soul another year?” (c)
Q:
Tense, they waited for the future to once again drag them under. (c)
August 10, 2015
First in the Theirs Not to Reason Why series. This is high-end far-future space opera featuring a main character whot is a psi future seer heavy worlder, best at everything physical and mental. Ia is a pompous Cassandra prophetess figure orchestrating the future of the galaxy. Despite Mary Sue components, repetitive language, info dumping, and various other concerns and issues I found this whole series utterly addicting and hypnotic. (Insert ARGH of frustration here.) I could not put them down and I can't wait until the next book (which I hope will be the last).
January 14, 2012
I was all jacked up--a female science fiction soldier hero!--but found this book flawed. One of my greatest complaints about men's science fiction is the plague of "info dumps"--great chunks of science/engineering/military tech/space tech/time explanation dumped into and getting in the way of the story. Even Robert Heinlein's juveniles have their share of info dumps. I expect women writers to be more sensible and, generally, they are, but this book makes Tom Clancy's use of info dumps seem sparing. I ended up skimming it in search of the actual story. It's also too easy that Ia's ability to slip into and out of time always produces just the right piece of knowledge or the right relationship at the right moment to make things easier for her. She's just too good at everything, so that rarely she fakes being bad.
The basic story: Ia is a pre- and post-cognitive (as well as telekinetic) who sees the destruction of her part of the universe unless she dedicates her entire life to becoming a soldier, rising in the ranks, and becoming a great hero who in a couple of centuries can guide the course of her multi-world society. At a very young age she begins to study, so that when she reports to Marine boot camp in Australia she quickly shows a mastery of what she needs to know to be a marine. The first book covers her rise through the early ranks in an episodic style. Each section is prefaced by her writings about how she did what she did, or rather, her motives for doing so. Driving her always are her visions of billions dying in the rubble.
If the flaws I mention were not there, I'd happily get the next book, because this is the kind of story I like, but not as it stands. I don't understand how the writer's editor didn't help her more.
The basic story: Ia is a pre- and post-cognitive (as well as telekinetic) who sees the destruction of her part of the universe unless she dedicates her entire life to becoming a soldier, rising in the ranks, and becoming a great hero who in a couple of centuries can guide the course of her multi-world society. At a very young age she begins to study, so that when she reports to Marine boot camp in Australia she quickly shows a mastery of what she needs to know to be a marine. The first book covers her rise through the early ranks in an episodic style. Each section is prefaced by her writings about how she did what she did, or rather, her motives for doing so. Driving her always are her visions of billions dying in the rubble.
If the flaws I mention were not there, I'd happily get the next book, because this is the kind of story I like, but not as it stands. I don't understand how the writer's editor didn't help her more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 17, 2025
I loved A Soldier's Duty, the fist of Jean Johnson’s future military series. Why? Although not a romance novel but pure sci-fi, the plot creative and I could fully understand and grasp with ease Ia and her choices.
I found it fascinating from the first pages: Ia herself and her family, Earth and the other worlds that are immersed in a galactic war and how the existence of precognition in itself can change events.
Even the perplexity of the military, of how it operates in the future, can be crucial as a framework to the story. It is about a precog who can see all probable scenarios way into the far future, specifically a culmination of destruction for the galaxy unless Ia herself can manage to maneuver her course and of others down a definite path so as to prevent the foreseen annihilation.
I may not be able to convey how good this book is: if you are a little bit like me you will find you can't put it down so as to discover what happens next and how Ia achieves to alter the possible futures, the surprises that catch her off guard and makes her re-evaluate and struggle to correct its course towards that one last hope for the universe.
I found it fascinating from the first pages: Ia herself and her family, Earth and the other worlds that are immersed in a galactic war and how the existence of precognition in itself can change events.
Even the perplexity of the military, of how it operates in the future, can be crucial as a framework to the story. It is about a precog who can see all probable scenarios way into the far future, specifically a culmination of destruction for the galaxy unless Ia herself can manage to maneuver her course and of others down a definite path so as to prevent the foreseen annihilation.
I may not be able to convey how good this book is: if you are a little bit like me you will find you can't put it down so as to discover what happens next and how Ia achieves to alter the possible futures, the surprises that catch her off guard and makes her re-evaluate and struggle to correct its course towards that one last hope for the universe.
June 13, 2022
💀 DNF at 30%. And it's nothing short of a miracle I made it this far.
It feels like I just spent the last
The End.
August 20, 2012
I so wanted to love this. It was nominated for a Philip K. Dick Award and I like the writer and her style a lot, but there were three flaws that kept me from enjoying it. One, pacing. The first half of the book is boot camp and it's pretty cliche and dragged out. It's nothing we haven't seen in Full Metal Jacket, etc. It even includes Clancy-esque expositional sequences like six pages describing 13 different kinds of bullets in detail. Yes, the author is clever to have thought of it in detail and researched ammo enough to make it convincing, but we only need to know it when the ammo is used. Many of the kinds never come into the story, plus, by the time the ones that are do show up, it's far enough past we won't remember most of these descriptions. This is one example of a few such expositional drains that just slow down the pace, make you want to skip pages, and delay the story.
But these two are minor compared to the bigger issue: the protagonist is incapable of failure. She is never in jeapordy because Johnson gifts her with the gifts she needs to conquer any obstacle. Whenever a problem arises, Johnson just gifts Ia with a psi ability or precog revelation that gives her a solution. So there's never really any doubt about the outcome. She can read the future and thus predict it and be prepared for anything. It makes is hard to maintain suspense when you know she won't die and that she'll win. For me, that just ruined the story. And she's basically invulnerable, so she never meets her match.
It's unfortunate, because Johnson's writing is strong and her character building is not just well done but her characters are interesting. So is the delimma/premise and the world. It's future Earth, basically, with marines out amongst the stars. And while the action packed second have is much better paced and keeps you turning pages, the character flaw issue becomes more bothersome here and really gets in the way. At least it did for me. There are good supporting characters, Ia herself is interesting but her lack of vulnerability derailed it for me.
Good for military scifi fans and part of an expected 4 book series with duology follow up.
But these two are minor compared to the bigger issue: the protagonist is incapable of failure. She is never in jeapordy because Johnson gifts her with the gifts she needs to conquer any obstacle. Whenever a problem arises, Johnson just gifts Ia with a psi ability or precog revelation that gives her a solution. So there's never really any doubt about the outcome. She can read the future and thus predict it and be prepared for anything. It makes is hard to maintain suspense when you know she won't die and that she'll win. For me, that just ruined the story. And she's basically invulnerable, so she never meets her match.
It's unfortunate, because Johnson's writing is strong and her character building is not just well done but her characters are interesting. So is the delimma/premise and the world. It's future Earth, basically, with marines out amongst the stars. And while the action packed second have is much better paced and keeps you turning pages, the character flaw issue becomes more bothersome here and really gets in the way. At least it did for me. There are good supporting characters, Ia herself is interesting but her lack of vulnerability derailed it for me.
Good for military scifi fans and part of an expected 4 book series with duology follow up.
April 25, 2014
Well crap....
Will I follow this book up? Probably.
BUT early on, through about the first 2/3 of the book I'd have said definitely. So, let's discuss the up and down, good and bad...plus and minus of the novel.
First the book opens well. The writer reports she hasn't been in the military but on the whole the "military feel" of the book is okay. There are some things that don't ring true and people who've been in the military will note a few problems. They aren't bad however and my thought was that it could have been accounted for simply in "science fiction license" (okay...many Marines hate to be called "soldiers" but...there you are).
We follow our protagonist through her "planned" getting into the "right service", her training and then into service. The book doesn't flag much. The time "we" spend on leave or whatever doesn't really bog down the book. The story holds up (sort of) and the author knows where she wants to go. All in all plot is okay and characters "aren't bad".
Okay that was the molasses...now for the sulfur.
First...the plot of this book is sort of a "story within a story". Our hero (and this isn't a spoiler as you find it out in the synopsis and going into the novel) is a psychic. The world/universe the story takes place in knows of psychics. Psychics end up in "Special Forces" Ia (our hero's name..by the way it's pronounced "I-E" rather than "I-A")....Ia must not end up in Special Forces. If she is to save our galaxy and the human species (and other species) then she must work out her life in a specific way to set up even a narrow chance....
The problem here is that occasionally that part of the story and the "currently happening" part of the story trip over each other. This is a minor problem and only shows up when we have to put up with Ia having a vision at strange times or doing things that would seem so badly off.
But then as the story goes on and Ia begins to more overtly work toward her goal she also begins to exhibit new "powers"...I mean lots of new powers. She could probably take on the Avengers and the JLA single handed by the time we tie things in this novel. .
There came a point when I had to double check just to be sure her name was Ia and not Mary Sue...
Oh well. This was as noted about the last third of the book and I wonder what went down there. I think I'll go ahead and buy the second paperback...hope springs eternal. I do hope the character works a little better in the next book. Or I should say I hope the character is as good in the next book as she was in the first two thirds of this one.
Will I follow this book up? Probably.
BUT early on, through about the first 2/3 of the book I'd have said definitely. So, let's discuss the up and down, good and bad...plus and minus of the novel.
First the book opens well. The writer reports she hasn't been in the military but on the whole the "military feel" of the book is okay. There are some things that don't ring true and people who've been in the military will note a few problems. They aren't bad however and my thought was that it could have been accounted for simply in "science fiction license" (okay...many Marines hate to be called "soldiers" but...there you are).
We follow our protagonist through her "planned" getting into the "right service", her training and then into service. The book doesn't flag much. The time "we" spend on leave or whatever doesn't really bog down the book. The story holds up (sort of) and the author knows where she wants to go. All in all plot is okay and characters "aren't bad".
Okay that was the molasses...now for the sulfur.
First...the plot of this book is sort of a "story within a story". Our hero (and this isn't a spoiler as you find it out in the synopsis and going into the novel) is a psychic. The world/universe the story takes place in knows of psychics. Psychics end up in "Special Forces" Ia (our hero's name..by the way it's pronounced "I-E" rather than "I-A")....Ia must not end up in Special Forces. If she is to save our galaxy and the human species (and other species) then she must work out her life in a specific way to set up even a narrow chance....
The problem here is that occasionally that part of the story and the "currently happening" part of the story trip over each other. This is a minor problem and only shows up when we have to put up with Ia having a vision at strange times or doing things that would seem so badly off.
But then as the story goes on and Ia begins to more overtly work toward her goal she also begins to exhibit new "powers"...I mean lots of new powers. She could probably take on the Avengers and the JLA single handed by the time we tie things in this novel. .
There came a point when I had to double check just to be sure her name was Ia and not Mary Sue...
Oh well. This was as noted about the last third of the book and I wonder what went down there. I think I'll go ahead and buy the second paperback...hope springs eternal. I do hope the character works a little better in the next book. Or I should say I hope the character is as good in the next book as she was in the first two thirds of this one.
March 7, 2015
Well, that was unexpected. I honestly can't remember the last time a book gave me such divisive opinions. Starting at about the halfway point, I truly thought something was wrong with me. That I was maybe a little off (or more off than usual), and just wasn't reading the book with a clear head. Or wasn't in the mood for a this genre of book. Upon finishing it and reading other Goodreads reviews, however, I realize that other people had the same issues as myself. Sanity validated...yay.
First and foremost, there's a lot going on in this first book. We obviously need to be introduced to our main character and the universe in which our tale will take place. On the world-building and tech side, this is where Jean Johnson really excels. Technology is well thought out and practical, and the world has that "lived in" feel that makes it that much more real. The ships, weapons, and other military gear is handled well, as are the various skirmishes and conflicts that arise. Military training isn't easy, and that is conveyed well. The various factions, forces, and political entities make sense, and are given their proper dues.
But...all the world building and fancy tech won't get you very far without a well-written main character, or characters, to wrap the tale around. And that's where A Soldier's Duty suffers some missteps. The first issue is that there's only one person (in this first book at least) carrying the burden of a universe sized dilemma. With so much at stake, I was hoping for more characters to help try and help to make things right. A tale this size really needs more viewpoints to help flesh out the details and give us more investment into the struggles. Not that Ia isn't a capable person, because she is. Extremely capable. But that leads directly to issue number two...
Which is Ia herself. She is a precog, and aside from a few places in her timeline, can pretty much see the different "futures" that could happen, depending on how things are handled in the present. However, by having her "see" nearly everything in advance, she doesn't have that traditional character arc of growth and learning by trial and error (and mistakes). Instead we get a character who learns through visions and then just has to carry out the most optimal response, almost like accomplishing by copying. It's hard to invest in that. And she has other powerful abilities that seem to crop up "just at the very moment they are needed", leaving us to wonder why we hadn't heard of these powers before. It's a little exasperating to have a main character who, without any kind of explanation or preamble, just happens to have new powers, immunities, and super powerful allies, right when they are needed most. Where did these allies come from, and how does she know them? Why can she do this super powerful thing, but also the opposite super powerful thing that she shouldn't be able to do? And some of the physical skills she has, which crop up out of the blue having NEVER been mentioned before and that would take years and years of constant practice to pull off, are explained away with a little throwaway sentence like "which she had been practicing on her own every night for the past year". Ummmm...when was she doing this? It wasn't mentioned with her other practices earlier in the book. In fact, it was never even hinted at until just this very moment. And between being in the military and all other stuff she has to deal with, when does she have time to practice ALL this stuff, let alone master it? I liken her character to how my son likes to imagine himself as a superhero, one who "has every other superhero's powers, cuz that would be cool!". Yeah...ok...so he would basically be God, but as a superhero. Which totally kills any sense of danger or any buildup of suspense, and that's essentially what happens here. Oh...and she has a voice like a cross between Fergie and Jesus. But of course she does. I honestly kept expecting her to also be a classically trained violinist and an award winning pastry chef too, because why not? "Would you like me to play you some Mozart while you enjoy your freshly prepared linzer torte, Commander?"
And that's where the divisive feeling comes from. I feel bad. I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did. And I must give credit where credit is due. Writing a novel AND having it published is no easy feat. Plus, you can tell this was a labor of love for Jean Johnson, who truly possesses talent and a neverending supply of good ideas. But...in the end, a "too perfect" main character, and the significant lack of engaging supporting characters, really dampened my enjoyment of the book. Some deus ex machina is acceptable, a whole book's worth is simply too much. Ia, you white-haired minx you. You are stonger than an ox, more graceful than an Olympic figure skater, more humble than Ghandi, and are a better shot than Chris Kyle, but I just don't know if I can see you anymore. But you probably saw that coming...didn't you?
First and foremost, there's a lot going on in this first book. We obviously need to be introduced to our main character and the universe in which our tale will take place. On the world-building and tech side, this is where Jean Johnson really excels. Technology is well thought out and practical, and the world has that "lived in" feel that makes it that much more real. The ships, weapons, and other military gear is handled well, as are the various skirmishes and conflicts that arise. Military training isn't easy, and that is conveyed well. The various factions, forces, and political entities make sense, and are given their proper dues.
But...all the world building and fancy tech won't get you very far without a well-written main character, or characters, to wrap the tale around. And that's where A Soldier's Duty suffers some missteps. The first issue is that there's only one person (in this first book at least) carrying the burden of a universe sized dilemma. With so much at stake, I was hoping for more characters to help try and help to make things right. A tale this size really needs more viewpoints to help flesh out the details and give us more investment into the struggles. Not that Ia isn't a capable person, because she is. Extremely capable. But that leads directly to issue number two...
Which is Ia herself. She is a precog, and aside from a few places in her timeline, can pretty much see the different "futures" that could happen, depending on how things are handled in the present. However, by having her "see" nearly everything in advance, she doesn't have that traditional character arc of growth and learning by trial and error (and mistakes). Instead we get a character who learns through visions and then just has to carry out the most optimal response, almost like accomplishing by copying. It's hard to invest in that. And she has other powerful abilities that seem to crop up "just at the very moment they are needed", leaving us to wonder why we hadn't heard of these powers before. It's a little exasperating to have a main character who, without any kind of explanation or preamble, just happens to have new powers, immunities, and super powerful allies, right when they are needed most. Where did these allies come from, and how does she know them? Why can she do this super powerful thing, but also the opposite super powerful thing that she shouldn't be able to do? And some of the physical skills she has, which crop up out of the blue having NEVER been mentioned before and that would take years and years of constant practice to pull off, are explained away with a little throwaway sentence like "which she had been practicing on her own every night for the past year". Ummmm...when was she doing this? It wasn't mentioned with her other practices earlier in the book. In fact, it was never even hinted at until just this very moment. And between being in the military and all other stuff she has to deal with, when does she have time to practice ALL this stuff, let alone master it? I liken her character to how my son likes to imagine himself as a superhero, one who "has every other superhero's powers, cuz that would be cool!". Yeah...ok...so he would basically be God, but as a superhero. Which totally kills any sense of danger or any buildup of suspense, and that's essentially what happens here. Oh...and she has a voice like a cross between Fergie and Jesus. But of course she does. I honestly kept expecting her to also be a classically trained violinist and an award winning pastry chef too, because why not? "Would you like me to play you some Mozart while you enjoy your freshly prepared linzer torte, Commander?"
And that's where the divisive feeling comes from. I feel bad. I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did. And I must give credit where credit is due. Writing a novel AND having it published is no easy feat. Plus, you can tell this was a labor of love for Jean Johnson, who truly possesses talent and a neverending supply of good ideas. But...in the end, a "too perfect" main character, and the significant lack of engaging supporting characters, really dampened my enjoyment of the book. Some deus ex machina is acceptable, a whole book's worth is simply too much. Ia, you white-haired minx you. You are stonger than an ox, more graceful than an Olympic figure skater, more humble than Ghandi, and are a better shot than Chris Kyle, but I just don't know if I can see you anymore. But you probably saw that coming...didn't you?
June 9, 2014
First of all, this is not a romance novel. Unless you count the entire chapter long ode to the specs of military guns of the far future as a love poem, there is not a spec of romance in this book. It is straight up sci-fi. But because it's written by a woman, with a female main character and was given a, granted, kinda misleading cover, some people on Goodreads classify it as a romance. I repeat, not a romance.
With that out of the way, this book is WAY more fascinating than a book that can often get caught up in the minutiae of how the military of the future operates (when you get to the chapter all about gun specs, I recommend you skip over until story starts again). The story is about a pre cog who can see all probable futures and she sees that in almost all of them the universe will be destroyed unless she can manage to navigate her future down the few paths where she can prevent it. IT IS SO GOOD. You can't put it down because you want to know what she does next, and how that will alter the possible futures, and see her surprised when a possible future event with a low probability of occurrence catches her off guard and makes her re-evaluate and scramble to course-correct towards that one last hope for the universe. SIGH.
With that out of the way, this book is WAY more fascinating than a book that can often get caught up in the minutiae of how the military of the future operates (when you get to the chapter all about gun specs, I recommend you skip over until story starts again). The story is about a pre cog who can see all probable futures and she sees that in almost all of them the universe will be destroyed unless she can manage to navigate her future down the few paths where she can prevent it. IT IS SO GOOD. You can't put it down because you want to know what she does next, and how that will alter the possible futures, and see her surprised when a possible future event with a low probability of occurrence catches her off guard and makes her re-evaluate and scramble to course-correct towards that one last hope for the universe. SIGH.
started-and-not-finished
January 27, 2025With rare exceptions, military science fiction is not my cup of tea, and I don't normally seek it out. My only reason for picking this book up at all was that it had been voted in as a common read in one of my Goodreads groups. However, I soon realized that I wasn't getting into it at all, and felt the best thing to do was to pull the plug. In fairness to the author, that's not so much a judgment on the quality of the book as such as it is an indication of a radically bad fit between book and individual reader. Given that circumstance, it wouldn't have been fair for me to read and review the work!
July 18, 2018
I have read some fantastic sci-fi romance is lately and I am always on the hunt for another one. This book was one recommended to me by Goodreads because of the Linnea Sinclair books I’ve read. With its four star average and library availability, I did not hesitate to snatch it up. But while it is futuristic and science fiction-y, be warned, there is no romance here. Not even a little. None.
This is military science fiction. The heroine is precognitive and knows the world is on a devastating trajectory. The only way she can save it is to become a marine and affect the course of events.
The first half of the book follows her training. It is pretty much like the basic training you would find in any modern day movie. Her body is pushed to its physical limits. There is the whole thing about breaking her down and building her back up again. There’s even a hell week. The second half of the book follows her through two years of service on a ship and the missions she undertakes.
It wasn’t a bad book. If you dig marine stuff or you’re really into sci-fi action sequences, this book will be golden for you. For me, I’m not sure if I will continue with the series. Yes, I would have loved a romantic interest, but it’s more than that. Ia, the heroine, essentially can’t fail. With her ability to see the future, she knows almost every outcome to every decision. As a result, almost the entire book reads like a grocery list. Ia recognizes she has to do something, fight someone, or be in a particular place at a particular time, in order to create the future she wants. We see it play out. Nothing ever really goes awry and I get the impression that it can’t. Because she's psychic. Sure, she might get a little beat up from time to time, but think about the implications in the heroine knowing everything that is going to happen and just executing her plan to perfection over and over and over again. It’s hard to drum up any fear or concern or really any feeling for her at all.
Another problem I had was the fact there was way too much detail. I remember at one point the author spent several pages detailing different types of ammunition and their abilities. I don’t really care that much about that. I don’t care what 1000 different metals are for. And sadly, I didn’t care about the dozens of characters that came in and out of Ia's life with no emotional connections. I’m not just talking about romance, I’m talking about interpersonal stuff even among friends. Ia has to view everyone as a chess piece. And they come and go from her life with very little fanfare.
And finally, there wasn’t really a clear story arc. This was essentially a linear progression of her journey to get to become a lieutenant. No big foe was conquered. No master plan revealed. Just Ia doing one thing on her list, then the next thing, then the next thing. And then it was over.
I don’t know if this book did enough for me to make me care what happens next. I have to think about whether I want to continue with this series.
This is military science fiction. The heroine is precognitive and knows the world is on a devastating trajectory. The only way she can save it is to become a marine and affect the course of events.
The first half of the book follows her training. It is pretty much like the basic training you would find in any modern day movie. Her body is pushed to its physical limits. There is the whole thing about breaking her down and building her back up again. There’s even a hell week. The second half of the book follows her through two years of service on a ship and the missions she undertakes.
It wasn’t a bad book. If you dig marine stuff or you’re really into sci-fi action sequences, this book will be golden for you. For me, I’m not sure if I will continue with the series. Yes, I would have loved a romantic interest, but it’s more than that. Ia, the heroine, essentially can’t fail. With her ability to see the future, she knows almost every outcome to every decision. As a result, almost the entire book reads like a grocery list. Ia recognizes she has to do something, fight someone, or be in a particular place at a particular time, in order to create the future she wants. We see it play out. Nothing ever really goes awry and I get the impression that it can’t. Because she's psychic. Sure, she might get a little beat up from time to time, but think about the implications in the heroine knowing everything that is going to happen and just executing her plan to perfection over and over and over again. It’s hard to drum up any fear or concern or really any feeling for her at all.
Another problem I had was the fact there was way too much detail. I remember at one point the author spent several pages detailing different types of ammunition and their abilities. I don’t really care that much about that. I don’t care what 1000 different metals are for. And sadly, I didn’t care about the dozens of characters that came in and out of Ia's life with no emotional connections. I’m not just talking about romance, I’m talking about interpersonal stuff even among friends. Ia has to view everyone as a chess piece. And they come and go from her life with very little fanfare.
And finally, there wasn’t really a clear story arc. This was essentially a linear progression of her journey to get to become a lieutenant. No big foe was conquered. No master plan revealed. Just Ia doing one thing on her list, then the next thing, then the next thing. And then it was over.
I don’t know if this book did enough for me to make me care what happens next. I have to think about whether I want to continue with this series.
November 7, 2018
UPD: On a 2nd re-read, Ia's constant over explanation of things is slightly annoying. But I've still enjoyed it.
Guys, gals, this book is AWESOME. The scope, the sheer complexity of it all is on par with Dune.
I have to admit straight away, this is not a book for everyone and my 10 out of 10 is highly subjective because I personally grew up with reading and rereading Dune, and gobbling up extremely popular military sci-fi in Russia for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
This is like a blast from the past.
A Soldier's Duty has been on my shelves for about 7-8 months, and then this Sunday I suddenly fancied some sci-fi and picked it up. Next thing I know it's 1.30 in the morning and I'm 3/4 of the way through the book and have to force myself to stop.
I finished it the next day and ordered book #2 straight away. Now I have a bookish hangover which happens when the book was so good you are not quite ready to turn your attention to some other read. You probably know exactly what I mean! ;)
Ia is such a complex, interesting, intense and incredibly driven character. There is always a barrier, am inner detachment in her which comes from seeing everyone's future all the time, the numerous probabilities in time currents. The things this woman has to keep in her head would drive an average person mad, but she perseveres because failure is not an option. Failure means the annihilation of her galaxy.
Ia as a recruit and then as a Marine is always at the front of all action because it's the only way she can control the outcome. Because she knows how to drive the events for the desirable outcome, her actions become incredible, even legendary feats of bravery, and the whole book is one total non-stop fest of action, fights and battles while each of the event serves as another chess piece in Ia's Game.
It's really hard to describe this book, and I don't really want to give any spoilers to those who think they would appreciate the genre. However, what I can say is that Jean Johnson as a paranormal romance author only got a DNF from me, I just couldn't read the book. Jean Johnson as a sci-fi author is a pure evil genius. I couldn't stop reading. Weird, huh?
Highly recommended, but not for sci-fi beginners I think :)
Guys, gals, this book is AWESOME. The scope, the sheer complexity of it all is on par with Dune.
I have to admit straight away, this is not a book for everyone and my 10 out of 10 is highly subjective because I personally grew up with reading and rereading Dune, and gobbling up extremely popular military sci-fi in Russia for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
This is like a blast from the past.
A Soldier's Duty has been on my shelves for about 7-8 months, and then this Sunday I suddenly fancied some sci-fi and picked it up. Next thing I know it's 1.30 in the morning and I'm 3/4 of the way through the book and have to force myself to stop.
I finished it the next day and ordered book #2 straight away. Now I have a bookish hangover which happens when the book was so good you are not quite ready to turn your attention to some other read. You probably know exactly what I mean! ;)
Ia is such a complex, interesting, intense and incredibly driven character. There is always a barrier, am inner detachment in her which comes from seeing everyone's future all the time, the numerous probabilities in time currents. The things this woman has to keep in her head would drive an average person mad, but she perseveres because failure is not an option. Failure means the annihilation of her galaxy.
Ia as a recruit and then as a Marine is always at the front of all action because it's the only way she can control the outcome. Because she knows how to drive the events for the desirable outcome, her actions become incredible, even legendary feats of bravery, and the whole book is one total non-stop fest of action, fights and battles while each of the event serves as another chess piece in Ia's Game.
It's really hard to describe this book, and I don't really want to give any spoilers to those who think they would appreciate the genre. However, what I can say is that Jean Johnson as a paranormal romance author only got a DNF from me, I just couldn't read the book. Jean Johnson as a sci-fi author is a pure evil genius. I couldn't stop reading. Weird, huh?
Highly recommended, but not for sci-fi beginners I think :)
January 6, 2012
I rarely read military sci-fi because it tends to glorify the things I find least admirable about humanity and there are rarely well-developed female characters. That's why I found the premise of "A Soldier's Duty," the first in a new series, to be so refreshing. It features a smart, strong female protagonist who enters the military in an attempt to stave off the cataclysmic war that she has foreseen with her precognitive abilities. She must hide her gifts and tread the narrow, precipitous path to the future that has a tendency to be clouded when the most decisions need to be made. It's a powerful idea that's largely well-realized, though there are some new series hiccups. There is a lot of exposition, though it tends to be fairly well integrated with training sequences and introductions to new characters. I think my biggest problem with the book is that the protagonist is a bit too perfect- naturally white hair, high-gravity-induced super strength paired with unusual tallness, the ability to tell stories in rhyme, and of course, unprecedented precognitive abilities without any appreciable faults. I am hopeful that the lack of faults is because these early steps toward realizing a better future are so precarious and that any missteps would be fatal. So hopefully, in the future we'll get to see Ia make mistakes and perhaps chafe a bit under the yoke she chose. The excerpt of the second book hints at this, when we see Ia not on her own but with her family. It was a wonderfully tantalizing taste of a more human Ia and suggestions of what happens when she has to depend on other people to help her bring about a the best of all possible futures and not just herself and her prophecies. I'm definitely looking forward to more!
June 12, 2013
Well, if copying is truly the most sincere form of flattery, Jean Johnson is a very adept flatterer. But as much as I enjoy the genere, this book is the cafeteria lunch of military sci-fi.
I don't think I can count the tropes that are borrowed. It's literally impossible. And they're not even very well mixed -- it's like they were plunked into a bowl and barely stirred, much less baked down. There are lightsabers that return laser bolts. There's precognition that gives the protagonist superhero powers, but she doesn't use them half the time without any real good plot reason for such an omission. The heroine rarely does anything wrong, and everything is supposedly to a 'master plan' that she can see on a probability-based mental visualization. Even though it's extremely obvious, no one picks up on her psionic powers. There are Tarantino-esque bloodbaths complete with swordplay straight out of "Kill Bill". It feels like the author started out from the same basic universe or premise as McCaffrey/Moon's "Sassinak" and then just threw other ingredients in until she ended up with this dog's breakfast.
The only positive thing that i can say is that the action scenes (and there are a lot of them ... almost to the exclusion of plot) are vivid and well-imaged. That's enough to bring it from one star to two; A for effort. F for everything else. The book requires so much suspension of disbelief that it's not even good as an airplane or beach read.
I don't think I can count the tropes that are borrowed. It's literally impossible. And they're not even very well mixed -- it's like they were plunked into a bowl and barely stirred, much less baked down. There are lightsabers that return laser bolts. There's precognition that gives the protagonist superhero powers, but she doesn't use them half the time without any real good plot reason for such an omission. The heroine rarely does anything wrong, and everything is supposedly to a 'master plan' that she can see on a probability-based mental visualization. Even though it's extremely obvious, no one picks up on her psionic powers. There are Tarantino-esque bloodbaths complete with swordplay straight out of "Kill Bill". It feels like the author started out from the same basic universe or premise as McCaffrey/Moon's "Sassinak" and then just threw other ingredients in until she ended up with this dog's breakfast.
The only positive thing that i can say is that the action scenes (and there are a lot of them ... almost to the exclusion of plot) are vivid and well-imaged. That's enough to bring it from one star to two; A for effort. F for everything else. The book requires so much suspension of disbelief that it's not even good as an airplane or beach read.
October 11, 2022
I did it again. This time, I had a little difficulty - I kept remembering moments from books 2-5 and getting choked up.
I've read this 7 times now, so we're quickly catching up to Harry Potter. There's no greater compliment I could give this book, so this is my entire review.
I've read this 7 times now, so we're quickly catching up to Harry Potter. There's no greater compliment I could give this book, so this is my entire review.
May 30, 2023
This book was awesome... it caught my eye a few weeks ago because I'm a bit of a sucker for time travel/pre-cogs/etc
Not going to lie, I skimmed a bit in Basic Training when the author went a little overboard explaining 5 different guns and their 20 different ammos, but otherwise the book went fast and kept me engaged... looking forward to devouring the rest of the series.
2021 Re-read: it's a shame this series doesn't have audiobooks... I broke my normal audio habits to do an ebook re-read... that's how much I love this series...
Not going to lie, I skimmed a bit in Basic Training when the author went a little overboard explaining 5 different guns and their 20 different ammos, but otherwise the book went fast and kept me engaged... looking forward to devouring the rest of the series.
2021 Re-read: it's a shame this series doesn't have audiobooks... I broke my normal audio habits to do an ebook re-read... that's how much I love this series...
September 26, 2018
[A Solier's Duty] “… is to place his or her skills, weapons, body and life between all that can harm and all that could be harmed.”
A space opera centered on a superhuman heavy-world half-breed of a super race. Think: all the Avengers in one body, and she’s a Jedi who sees the future. And most of the book she’s still a teen. Good fun, if you ignore the blood and guts, but too easy.
“You are a pawn, little half-child. You are a Game piece we have set in motion.” “Sometimes the pieces direct where the players must play.”
Her prescience is acknowledged to be fuzzy many times, yet she manipulates the actions of others as if she has precise knowledge of their actions and consequences. Not credible. Her god-like adversaries/partners/relatives are a tease for future stories.
“They tried to behave like miniature gods, unknowable, inscrutable, and annoying as hell--particularly when their usually subtle effects exploded into blatant manipulations.”
Engaging storytelling, though the boot camp section dragged. Johnson poured in too many backstory data dumps.
“Beware the Blood of Mary. You have been warned.”
Cover art quibble: The female looks nothing like Ia is described, and she is never mentioned wearing a tank top. Nude a couple times, but not tank top.
“I am damned for what I must do. I accepted that a long time ago. I had to.”
A space opera centered on a superhuman heavy-world half-breed of a super race. Think: all the Avengers in one body, and she’s a Jedi who sees the future. And most of the book she’s still a teen. Good fun, if you ignore the blood and guts, but too easy.
“You are a pawn, little half-child. You are a Game piece we have set in motion.” “Sometimes the pieces direct where the players must play.”
Her prescience is acknowledged to be fuzzy many times, yet she manipulates the actions of others as if she has precise knowledge of their actions and consequences. Not credible. Her god-like adversaries/partners/relatives are a tease for future stories.
“They tried to behave like miniature gods, unknowable, inscrutable, and annoying as hell--particularly when their usually subtle effects exploded into blatant manipulations.”
Engaging storytelling, though the boot camp section dragged. Johnson poured in too many backstory data dumps.
“Beware the Blood of Mary. You have been warned.”
Cover art quibble: The female looks nothing like Ia is described, and she is never mentioned wearing a tank top. Nude a couple times, but not tank top.
“I am damned for what I must do. I accepted that a long time ago. I had to.”
December 13, 2021
3 Stars ⭐ - 13.12.2021
Since my original read of A Soldier's Duty I have picked up better sci-fi books, so this time I wasn't as entranced as I was the first time. I still appreciated all the action and the military aspect, however I did find the whole manual how-to tedious this time around and skimmed bits of it.
I was less impressed by the MC as well, she was mostly annoying. Playing miss know it all, and being bader than bad-ass. Don't get me started on the repeated phrase 'you can put my prophetic stamp on it'. UGH, just shoot me now.
Girl might as well rent her own space ship and run around destroying all the villians herself 🙄
Overall beyond my little bitch rant an entertaining story - military in space, who doesn't love that. It's a book version a Mass Effect 😍 I'm looking forward to seeing how book 2 goes.
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I have only really read one other book (possibly) similar to A Soldier's Duty and that was Redoubtable. A Soldier's Duty i believe is much better. I loved all the different races, all the nifty gizmo's, especially the mech-suits. The space adventures, the military life, all of it was so exciting and new for me. I think that the basic rules for the Marine Forces may have been taken from real life and implemented into this book, of course i may be wrong as i have never been in anything even close to representing the army, but it sounds like this chick (the author) has really done her research. It felt realistic and i loved that.
Most of the personality's in this book were rather good, if not very in-depth/complex. Our main character, Ia, personality for the main part was quite good. There were a couple of occasions when it felt a bit off, plus the fact that she was SO BadAss all the time (10 times more than everyone else) got old pretty quickly. I feel like if their was more team effort and she didn't stick out so much, that i would of enjoyed the book a whole lot more. There's no I in Team, sweetheart. Plus her medals and ribbons were getting ridiculous, soon she wont be able to walk under all that weight. Save some for the others!!
Oh and don't get me started on how she purposefully rolled in the blood of her victims to get her nick-name, that was over the top.
The one thing i really appreciated about this book was how the Tech jargon wasn't to complex for my simple mind. I believe i understood most of it without to much difficulty, and usually with stuff like this I'm left in the dust.
So yea, for the most part an enjoyable read. I'll be reading the next one for sure.
3.5 stars, maybe 4. This book has some issues but i'll rate it higher for the satisfaction that i got from a genre i tend to find difficult to understand.
Since my original read of A Soldier's Duty I have picked up better sci-fi books, so this time I wasn't as entranced as I was the first time. I still appreciated all the action and the military aspect, however I did find the whole manual how-to tedious this time around and skimmed bits of it.
I was less impressed by the MC as well, she was mostly annoying. Playing miss know it all, and being bader than bad-ass. Don't get me started on the repeated phrase 'you can put my prophetic stamp on it'. UGH, just shoot me now.
Girl might as well rent her own space ship and run around destroying all the villians herself 🙄
Overall beyond my little bitch rant an entertaining story - military in space, who doesn't love that. It's a book version a Mass Effect 😍 I'm looking forward to seeing how book 2 goes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have only really read one other book (possibly) similar to A Soldier's Duty and that was Redoubtable. A Soldier's Duty i believe is much better. I loved all the different races, all the nifty gizmo's, especially the mech-suits. The space adventures, the military life, all of it was so exciting and new for me. I think that the basic rules for the Marine Forces may have been taken from real life and implemented into this book, of course i may be wrong as i have never been in anything even close to representing the army, but it sounds like this chick (the author) has really done her research. It felt realistic and i loved that.
Most of the personality's in this book were rather good, if not very in-depth/complex. Our main character, Ia, personality for the main part was quite good. There were a couple of occasions when it felt a bit off, plus the fact that she was SO BadAss all the time (10 times more than everyone else) got old pretty quickly. I feel like if their was more team effort and she didn't stick out so much, that i would of enjoyed the book a whole lot more. There's no I in Team, sweetheart. Plus her medals and ribbons were getting ridiculous, soon she wont be able to walk under all that weight. Save some for the others!!
Oh and don't get me started on how she purposefully rolled in the blood of her victims to get her nick-name, that was over the top.
The one thing i really appreciated about this book was how the Tech jargon wasn't to complex for my simple mind. I believe i understood most of it without to much difficulty, and usually with stuff like this I'm left in the dust.
So yea, for the most part an enjoyable read. I'll be reading the next one for sure.
3.5 stars, maybe 4. This book has some issues but i'll rate it higher for the satisfaction that i got from a genre i tend to find difficult to understand.
June 19, 2019
This series is the epitome of flawed but fun - a military sci-fi with a deliberate mary sue as the protagonist. It's deliberate because if the main character weren't a mary sue, the plot couldn't happen. The entire story hinges around the fact that Ia is the most powerful psychic in the entire universe.
The premise is, in a future where humans coexist peacefully with most of the aliens around them, it's basically Star Trek. Peace and utopia and the world's kindest military organization, where everyone gets a personal therapist. Into this universe, Ia is born: she's a girl raised on a far-flung colony world, and in her mid-teens she has a vision as her psychic powers blossom.
If she doesn't devote her entire life to shaping the future, an alien threat will arrive and destroy everything. And she has to get started immediately. She changes her name, joins the military as a prodigy, begins to write thousands of letters to be sent to people at the appropriate times so they'll follow her instructions at the right times, and more.
This book picks up with her basic training as she joins the military, and the entire series follows her career and desperate attempts to get every single duck lined up properly so the universe won't be destroyed centuries down the line.
Does the premise interest you? Good, give this book a shot. If you like it, the rest of the series mostly maintains this quality and you'll have a good time. If you don't like it, stop.
But okay, details. The first half of the book is a training montage, essentially. Ia is the world's best soldier and her instructors hate it and it's hilarious watching them try to fail her while she sails through with flying colors through basically everything.
The second half is her first assignment on a starship, and it's a collection of vignettes as Ia has various adventures, most of them fun. Ia's getting her nickname, building her reputation, being the world's most badass to ever badass, and everyone around her is all "what" and it's great!
So why is this three stars instead of five, if it sounds so fun? Because the writing falls down. The training montage can get boring to read and has a godawful multi-page segment where you get told about every single ammo type in their space military. Spoilers: these ammo types literally never come up again.
Second, the character writing is kinda flat. Ia works, but everyone else, ehh. I didn't get very invested, and basically this book lives on its premise and how hilariously fun Ia is to read. This character writing will become a recurring problem in future books, too.
But hey: I enjoyed this. You might too.
The premise is, in a future where humans coexist peacefully with most of the aliens around them, it's basically Star Trek. Peace and utopia and the world's kindest military organization, where everyone gets a personal therapist. Into this universe, Ia is born: she's a girl raised on a far-flung colony world, and in her mid-teens she has a vision as her psychic powers blossom.
If she doesn't devote her entire life to shaping the future, an alien threat will arrive and destroy everything. And she has to get started immediately. She changes her name, joins the military as a prodigy, begins to write thousands of letters to be sent to people at the appropriate times so they'll follow her instructions at the right times, and more.
This book picks up with her basic training as she joins the military, and the entire series follows her career and desperate attempts to get every single duck lined up properly so the universe won't be destroyed centuries down the line.
Does the premise interest you? Good, give this book a shot. If you like it, the rest of the series mostly maintains this quality and you'll have a good time. If you don't like it, stop.
But okay, details. The first half of the book is a training montage, essentially. Ia is the world's best soldier and her instructors hate it and it's hilarious watching them try to fail her while she sails through with flying colors through basically everything.
The second half is her first assignment on a starship, and it's a collection of vignettes as Ia has various adventures, most of them fun. Ia's getting her nickname, building her reputation, being the world's most badass to ever badass, and everyone around her is all "what" and it's great!
So why is this three stars instead of five, if it sounds so fun? Because the writing falls down. The training montage can get boring to read and has a godawful multi-page segment where you get told about every single ammo type in their space military. Spoilers: these ammo types literally never come up again.
Second, the character writing is kinda flat. Ia works, but everyone else, ehh. I didn't get very invested, and basically this book lives on its premise and how hilariously fun Ia is to read. This character writing will become a recurring problem in future books, too.
But hey: I enjoyed this. You might too.
December 25, 2020
I honestly had a hard time getting into this one.
Intellectually, logically, it is an interesting plot - precog woman sees horrific extinction event in the future, and dedicates her life to trying to weave a tricky tapestry that will avert the disaster.
Emotionally, I just couldn't engage. The thing is, Ia treats the entire world like her pawns. She manipulates everyone, will sacrifice them if she deems it necessary, and doesn't get attached to anyone. She has no loyalty, no emotional engagement. The secondary cast is this rotating group of disposable people, and since the book is really viewing them through her cynical, detached lens of "how can I best use this person" I don't feel any emotional engagement with them either.
Part of what I really love about militaristic space opera is the bonds of a team, where they will have your back through thick and thin, and you will have theirs. But in this series, Ia won't have anyone's back - she will manipulate, bully, or torture them into whatever road she needs them to walk, whether or not they like it. It's the cool, clinical perspective of a god sitting at a chessboard. Bad enough that we see her do this with people on her team, but when she murdered a rape victim - yes, that's a spoiler, but it's not actually a plot point but rather is this odd side moment in the story (this poor hostage had been brutalized and raped, and Ia looked into her future, saw her kid would be bad for the web she's weaving, and just straight-up murdered this innocent victim ... with not even a split-second of doubt about that really being the best course of action) - I realized why I was having such a hard time engaging with this book: she has no compassion or empathy, and I don't really care what happens to her.
Now, from a logical standpoint I get why she holds herself separate from everyone and refuses to emotionally engage. But from the audience perspective, this kind of cold narrative isn't one I can connect to, and seeing her do hideous things because of some umbrella "for the greater good" excuse that... no one but her can confirm, and I'm not really sure I trust her judgement (because I don't trust the judgement of anyone that has no compassion or empathy, quite frankly) ... I'm just not into it.
It's not a bad book. Just not my cuppa.
Intellectually, logically, it is an interesting plot - precog woman sees horrific extinction event in the future, and dedicates her life to trying to weave a tricky tapestry that will avert the disaster.
Emotionally, I just couldn't engage. The thing is, Ia treats the entire world like her pawns. She manipulates everyone, will sacrifice them if she deems it necessary, and doesn't get attached to anyone. She has no loyalty, no emotional engagement. The secondary cast is this rotating group of disposable people, and since the book is really viewing them through her cynical, detached lens of "how can I best use this person" I don't feel any emotional engagement with them either.
Part of what I really love about militaristic space opera is the bonds of a team, where they will have your back through thick and thin, and you will have theirs. But in this series, Ia won't have anyone's back - she will manipulate, bully, or torture them into whatever road she needs them to walk, whether or not they like it. It's the cool, clinical perspective of a god sitting at a chessboard. Bad enough that we see her do this with people on her team, but when she murdered a rape victim - yes, that's a spoiler, but it's not actually a plot point but rather is this odd side moment in the story (this poor hostage had been brutalized and raped, and Ia looked into her future, saw her kid would be bad for the web she's weaving, and just straight-up murdered this innocent victim ... with not even a split-second of doubt about that really being the best course of action) - I realized why I was having such a hard time engaging with this book: she has no compassion or empathy, and I don't really care what happens to her.
Now, from a logical standpoint I get why she holds herself separate from everyone and refuses to emotionally engage. But from the audience perspective, this kind of cold narrative isn't one I can connect to, and seeing her do hideous things because of some umbrella "for the greater good" excuse that... no one but her can confirm, and I'm not really sure I trust her judgement (because I don't trust the judgement of anyone that has no compassion or empathy, quite frankly) ... I'm just not into it.
It's not a bad book. Just not my cuppa.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 26, 2018
Wow what a surprise read! I really don’t know what possessed me to pick up this military sci-fi novel but I really enjoyed it. I don’t like anything war/military, I hate guns, and it didn’t have any romance (I generally like a story with at least a tiny bit of romance) but somehow I fell in love with reading page after page of detailed description of ammo and guns.
??
Who am I?
Ia was a really loveable character. She was brave and strong, and even in moments when it seemed like everything was too difficult to go on, she had the mantra of literally saving the world to keep her going. One of the biggest issues I had was the minimal conflict. Because of Ia’s abilities as a precog (she is able to see the future), she could basically anticipate everything that was about to happen to her. There were moments when her future looked ‘fuzzy’ and no clear path was determined, but besides that she could basically get herself out any situation because she knew exactly what was coming. The author still made it interesting but I hope as I continue the series this is addressed because I don’t think I could read three more books like this.
And would it be a huge stretch to ask for some romance in Ia’s life? Although it’s interesting to note that simply because this is a sci-fi written by a woman with a female main character, it is misleading on Goodreads because people are classifying this as a romance. Even I thought it a sci-fi romance was until I started reading.
I am taken aback at how great this was and even if the sci-fi military genre isn’t your thing this may just surprise you!
|Featherbrained Books Blog | Twitter |
??
Who am I?
Ia was a really loveable character. She was brave and strong, and even in moments when it seemed like everything was too difficult to go on, she had the mantra of literally saving the world to keep her going. One of the biggest issues I had was the minimal conflict. Because of Ia’s abilities as a precog (she is able to see the future), she could basically anticipate everything that was about to happen to her. There were moments when her future looked ‘fuzzy’ and no clear path was determined, but besides that she could basically get herself out any situation because she knew exactly what was coming. The author still made it interesting but I hope as I continue the series this is addressed because I don’t think I could read three more books like this.
And would it be a huge stretch to ask for some romance in Ia’s life? Although it’s interesting to note that simply because this is a sci-fi written by a woman with a female main character, it is misleading on Goodreads because people are classifying this as a romance. Even I thought it a sci-fi romance was until I started reading.
I am taken aback at how great this was and even if the sci-fi military genre isn’t your thing this may just surprise you!
|Featherbrained Books Blog | Twitter |
November 8, 2012
What convinced me to buy the book was the idea of someone who can see the future devoting their life to altering it. The actual book spent about half the time during main character Ia's basic training and the other half on shipboard duty. The boot camp chapters went well enough, but the book slogged down during the second half. It went from battle to battle without a break. I'd have liked to have seen less battle and more time for introspection and character building with Ia. For a heroine of a novel, she's very one-dimensional. She's also fairly unsympathetic and emotionless--certainly she's devoting her lives to the future of humanity, but she's not adverse to murder and so far she's not particularly interesting a character. More time crafting her personality (she's got psychic powers, she's determined and she's stronger than a tank, but what else?) and less time on the action (which was good for all the overkill) would have made it better for me. There's a lot of background information that's implied with her, and with the fabricated history she gives to her superiors in the novel, it's hard to know what's real and what' not. I still enjoyed the story and will likely get the follow-up when it comes out, but I'm hoping for more depth in the future.
Also, what's the deal with the cover? What has the Playboy model on the cover anything to do with the character in the novel? That's not the picture of a woman who can bench press an armored personnel carrier. Were teenaged boys the target audience?
Also, what's the deal with the cover? What has the Playboy model on the cover anything to do with the character in the novel? That's not the picture of a woman who can bench press an armored personnel carrier. Were teenaged boys the target audience?
September 2, 2013
This books was really disapointing. It was well written and put together, but I just didn't find enough in it to keep reading.
The premise was interesting: a precog has a vision of the "end of the world" (so to speak), but sees a way to stop it and save millions (billions?) of lives. So Ia enlists in the marines and hilarity ensures. No, wait. That's the problem: Ia is overpowered. She has such a grip on both the near and long term futures that there is no dramatic tension. She gets into all sorts of scrapes and ponders the ethical implications of it all, but I never felt like she'd fail in her task.
Thinking about it, I also know the chances of David Weber's Honor Harrington snuffing it are slim-to-none, but I felt the sacrifices she had to make. For example; I've recently re-read The Honor of the Queen and I'm thinking of the pain and turmoil she feels at . Ia feels none of this. Her fellow marines are there to be used as tools to be used - and I just didn't like it.
So, yes. Ia, you may be trying to SAVE THE WORLD. But you're such a stand-offish-****, I really don't care.
The premise was interesting: a precog has a vision of the "end of the world" (so to speak), but sees a way to stop it and save millions (billions?) of lives. So Ia enlists in the marines and hilarity ensures. No, wait. That's the problem: Ia is overpowered. She has such a grip on both the near and long term futures that there is no dramatic tension. She gets into all sorts of scrapes and ponders the ethical implications of it all, but I never felt like she'd fail in her task.
Thinking about it, I also know the chances of David Weber's Honor Harrington snuffing it are slim-to-none, but I felt the sacrifices she had to make. For example; I've recently re-read The Honor of the Queen and I'm thinking of the pain and turmoil she feels at . Ia feels none of this. Her fellow marines are there to be used as tools to be used - and I just didn't like it.
So, yes. Ia, you may be trying to SAVE THE WORLD. But you're such a stand-offish-****, I really don't care.
October 27, 2022
27.10.2022 - 5* - My guilty pleasure. Baví mě to, i když to zdaleka není dokonalé a má to své chyby. Je to zvláštní, ale přestože kniha popisuje poměrně temné věci, stále jsem se u ní dokázala zasmát a měla pozitivní podtón, díky kterému mě pozvedla na duchu. Něco v tom, jak je to napsané, je prostě můj žánr. :)))
31.5.2017 - 5*
17.10.2016 - 4,5*
21.12.2014 - 4,5*
Bavilo mě to. Strašně moc.
Jak hlavní hrdinka přemýšlela. Jak jednala. Co byla.
Světy, myšleno pozadí, byly také promyšlené, autorka si s tím dala práci a vytvořila pro každý z nich historii, něco charakteristického, dodala hezký prvek tím, jaký měly světy dopad na lidi, kteří na nich žili.
Autorka píše o armádě, protože do té se hlavní postava přidala, a jak ji popisuje, výcvik, psychologii, strašně mě to zaujalo a mám skoro pocit, jako bych se doopravdy něco naučila.
Stále se v knize něco dělo, nějaká akce, potřebovala jsem vědět, jak to dopadne. Nebo bude alespoň pokračovat.
Chvílemi mi to připomínalo Endera. Nebylo to tak geniální a ani námět nebyl stejný, ale ta atmosféra se sobě lehce podobala a to mě na tom asi okouzlilo.
Postavy byly skvělé. Autorka s charaktery a jejich psychikou uměla pracovat na jedničku.
Někdy možná byl děj lehce zjednodušený, nečekala jsem, že vše půjde tak jednoduše, ale možná jsem to měla čekat, vzhledem k povaze talentů hlavní hrdinky. A navíc, komplikace se objevily. A hodně. :)
31.5.2017 - 5*
17.10.2016 - 4,5*
21.12.2014 - 4,5*
Bavilo mě to. Strašně moc.
Jak hlavní hrdinka přemýšlela. Jak jednala. Co byla.
Světy, myšleno pozadí, byly také promyšlené, autorka si s tím dala práci a vytvořila pro každý z nich historii, něco charakteristického, dodala hezký prvek tím, jaký měly světy dopad na lidi, kteří na nich žili.
Autorka píše o armádě, protože do té se hlavní postava přidala, a jak ji popisuje, výcvik, psychologii, strašně mě to zaujalo a mám skoro pocit, jako bych se doopravdy něco naučila.
Stále se v knize něco dělo, nějaká akce, potřebovala jsem vědět, jak to dopadne. Nebo bude alespoň pokračovat.
Chvílemi mi to připomínalo Endera. Nebylo to tak geniální a ani námět nebyl stejný, ale ta atmosféra se sobě lehce podobala a to mě na tom asi okouzlilo.
Postavy byly skvělé. Autorka s charaktery a jejich psychikou uměla pracovat na jedničku.
Někdy možná byl děj lehce zjednodušený, nečekala jsem, že vše půjde tak jednoduše, ale možná jsem to měla čekat, vzhledem k povaze talentů hlavní hrdinky. A navíc, komplikace se objevily. A hodně. :)
February 26, 2013
I always have a hard time remembering what people are named in books. Of course I keep track of who is who, even if there are lots of characters. But as soon as the book ends names slip my mind. Well not this time, Ia is an easy name to remember ;) That and the fact she was totally kick-ass.
Anyway, I did not end up liking the book as much as I wanted to. As always do not get me wrong. That does not mean the book is bad. No, it was well-written, thrilling and interesting. Will she save the universe? (even if I mostly want to travel forward in time to see if it all works out).
The negative thing is that it was very very heavy on the tech and military jargon. Not something I find particularly interesting to read about. Also this one character was so hard to understand.
Just like I tend to skip sex scenes in other books (none here thought, nothing of that sort at all), when it came to be too much military stuff I skimmed. It's not that it was heavy, just boring for me.
But I do wonder what happens next. It's quite the undertaking to write about someone trying to save the universe hundreds of years before things go bad. And I do wonder what will go wrong?
If you like sci-fi then yes give it a go, or if you like military books, action, suspense.
Anyway, I did not end up liking the book as much as I wanted to. As always do not get me wrong. That does not mean the book is bad. No, it was well-written, thrilling and interesting. Will she save the universe? (even if I mostly want to travel forward in time to see if it all works out).
The negative thing is that it was very very heavy on the tech and military jargon. Not something I find particularly interesting to read about. Also this one character was so hard to understand.
Just like I tend to skip sex scenes in other books (none here thought, nothing of that sort at all), when it came to be too much military stuff I skimmed. It's not that it was heavy, just boring for me.
But I do wonder what happens next. It's quite the undertaking to write about someone trying to save the universe hundreds of years before things go bad. And I do wonder what will go wrong?
If you like sci-fi then yes give it a go, or if you like military books, action, suspense.
August 22, 2011
I LOVED this book! I really enjoyed her other books and was so excited to find out about this series. This is more of a Sci-Fi book than romance but it was really good. Ia (that is her name) is a futuristic colonist on a world with more gravity than earth which makes the people who live there very strong, she is also precognitive (sees the future). As a young girl she has a vision so horrifying that she must put aside all of her dreams in order to keep it from happening. She joins the Marines ( a futuristic space version of them) and put her plans into action carefully considering the consequences of each major action to the future.
I really enjoyed the style of this book each chapter begins with a letter sort of a little preview of the chapter, then it goes into detail. While overall this is not a funny book there are lots of funny parts in it. I love a letter she sends to someone who is involved in her plans "look for the man with two earrings in his left ear. Forgive him on the second date, ignore the incident on the third."
The main bad thing is that it is whole YEAR until the next book comes out.
I really enjoyed the style of this book each chapter begins with a letter sort of a little preview of the chapter, then it goes into detail. While overall this is not a funny book there are lots of funny parts in it. I love a letter she sends to someone who is involved in her plans "look for the man with two earrings in his left ear. Forgive him on the second date, ignore the incident on the third."
The main bad thing is that it is whole YEAR until the next book comes out.
January 18, 2014
If you like military science fiction, you'd like this book. It had a good pace, without completely bogging you down with details. Unfortunately, that is also a downside. Johnson throws a lot of stuff at you, and while the immersion is good by just mentioning things like you should know, it takes her a while to find a way to explain things.
The main character of Ia is amazing. She's witty, talented, powerful....everything that a perfect mary-sue should be. At times she seems far too overpowered, but if you like that kind of thing like I do you'll love this. It's nice to read a book with a female protagonist that's not hooked on what's in every man's pants all the time.
Another thing is the cast of characters can get a little daunting. There are some characters that have a name that resemble another's, so it can get to be a bit of a head rush trying to keep everything straight in your head.
Overall it was a good book if you want to completely lose yourself in a nice book where the main character is always super bad ass and ready to kick ass.
The main character of Ia is amazing. She's witty, talented, powerful....everything that a perfect mary-sue should be. At times she seems far too overpowered, but if you like that kind of thing like I do you'll love this. It's nice to read a book with a female protagonist that's not hooked on what's in every man's pants all the time.
Another thing is the cast of characters can get a little daunting. There are some characters that have a name that resemble another's, so it can get to be a bit of a head rush trying to keep everything straight in your head.
Overall it was a good book if you want to completely lose yourself in a nice book where the main character is always super bad ass and ready to kick ass.
October 6, 2012
4 3/4 stars!
15 year old Ia already knew that she was different as she grew up but matters coalesced when she realized that an apocalypse was inevitable unless she followed the single pathway that she could discern amongst infinite possibilities. She determined that she would need a military background to supplement the physical advantages conferred to her by her beginnings on a 'heavyworld' and joins the Marines, excelling in her service and honing her skills. The dichotomy of being able to use precognitive knowledge yet discerning the single path to achieve her goals with minimal negative outcomes shapes her actions and her single-minded preparation that lead her to enlist at the age of 18. A fantastic read that blends a fascinating glimpse at military life with a sci-fi twist even as one watches the crucible that hones someone who feels that she is predestined to be the savior of multiple worlds and beings. A great book for fans of space opera who enjoy strong female heroines.
15 year old Ia already knew that she was different as she grew up but matters coalesced when she realized that an apocalypse was inevitable unless she followed the single pathway that she could discern amongst infinite possibilities. She determined that she would need a military background to supplement the physical advantages conferred to her by her beginnings on a 'heavyworld' and joins the Marines, excelling in her service and honing her skills. The dichotomy of being able to use precognitive knowledge yet discerning the single path to achieve her goals with minimal negative outcomes shapes her actions and her single-minded preparation that lead her to enlist at the age of 18. A fantastic read that blends a fascinating glimpse at military life with a sci-fi twist even as one watches the crucible that hones someone who feels that she is predestined to be the savior of multiple worlds and beings. A great book for fans of space opera who enjoy strong female heroines.
August 12, 2011
It is unfortunate that Goodreads doesn't have a rating for crack fiction. This book is soooo bad, it is good. I read the whole thing, avidly turning pages, just to find out what totally impossible things our heroine would do next.
This is allegedly a 'coming of age in the military' novel--but it is not. Our heroine is supposedly 18 when she joins the Marines, but she acts 38. And her physical capabilities are beyond Wonder Woman. No, we are not in 'Starship Trooper' territory, because the attitude is wrong.
I will, probably, read the next one--just to see what outrageous stuff our author can come up with.
Only for those with a fondness for over the top Heinlien.
This is allegedly a 'coming of age in the military' novel--but it is not. Our heroine is supposedly 18 when she joins the Marines, but she acts 38. And her physical capabilities are beyond Wonder Woman. No, we are not in 'Starship Trooper' territory, because the attitude is wrong.
I will, probably, read the next one--just to see what outrageous stuff our author can come up with.
Only for those with a fondness for over the top Heinlien.
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