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Theirs Not to Reason Why #4
Hardship
It began with a terrible vision of the future. Compelled by her precognitive visions, Ia must somehow save her home galaxy long after she’s gone. Now, Jean Johnson presents the long-awaited, epic conclusion to her national bestselling military science fiction series…
Demoralized, their ship destroyed, Ia’s Damned must fight their way out of a planet-bound blockade and back into space. But no sooner do they board the Damnation and re-enter the fight than a new threat emerges. After several centuries of silence, the Greys are back, and the Alliance must now fight against both a rapacious, sadistic enemy, and a terrifying, technologically superior foe.
Ia has asked nothing of her crew that she herself has not been willing to give. But with two wars to bring to an end—and time running out—Ia must make and carry out the most terrible choice of all…
Demoralized, their ship destroyed, Ia’s Damned must fight their way out of a planet-bound blockade and back into space. But no sooner do they board the Damnation and re-enter the fight than a new threat emerges. After several centuries of silence, the Greys are back, and the Alliance must now fight against both a rapacious, sadistic enemy, and a terrifying, technologically superior foe.
Ia has asked nothing of her crew that she herself has not been willing to give. But with two wars to bring to an end—and time running out—Ia must make and carry out the most terrible choice of all…
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 29, 2014
41 people are currently reading
568 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 74 reviews
November 5, 2020
This fourth book is actually a 'part one' and the fifth book is 'part two', so why bother reviewing half a book?
January 6, 2022
First started and completed book of 2022 🥳 shame about the sickness but then a good chuck of the world is going through the same issues.
3.5-4 stars. (Higher rating for the first half)
This was probably the most engaging book outside of the 1st one. It started off so strong!!!! Johnson out did her self, than she somehow managed to OP the MC even more 🤦♀️ the MC keeps telling us she's only one person, but apparently she can become a battalion worth of killing machine if she so chooses, all by her little lonesome. I get it she's fighting the war and not just one planet battle.
Johnson does appear to be on a trend where something will occur that the MC has to overcome, which she does. Usually easily once she puts her mind to it then sails through all other issues for the rest of the book. So I'm looking forward to seeing how she out does herself in the next book - bound to be something spectacular.
Once again repeats of the same very annoying phrases throughout the book and series. But overall a good book, and they (the characters) were back to hand to hand which I did enjoy.
Onto the next book in my binge session while stuck at home 🙃
3.5-4 stars. (Higher rating for the first half)
This was probably the most engaging book outside of the 1st one. It started off so strong!!!! Johnson out did her self, than she somehow managed to OP the MC even more 🤦♀️ the MC keeps telling us she's only one person, but apparently she can become a battalion worth of killing machine if she so chooses, all by her little lonesome. I get it she's fighting the war and not just one planet battle.
Johnson does appear to be on a trend where something will occur that the MC has to overcome, which she does. Usually easily once she puts her mind to it then sails through all other issues for the rest of the book. So I'm looking forward to seeing how she out does herself in the next book - bound to be something spectacular.
Once again repeats of the same very annoying phrases throughout the book and series. But overall a good book, and they (the characters) were back to hand to hand which I did enjoy.
Onto the next book in my binge session while stuck at home 🙃
June 19, 2019
Go back and read the series in order! Shoo!
So this is the worst book in the series. The good news is that if you put up with it, you can read the finale which is back up to par and fun to read.
What went wrong? Well, the final book was supposed to be one big volume, but unfortunately the author misjudged and it got too big, so it was cut in half. This is, then, the first half - and much like the training montages, weaker than the sci-fi adventure bits.
Ia and crew have been stranded on a planet, and they work with the local military to kick the Salik off of the planet while they get their new starship built. Sounds good, right? Ia can be a badass soldier and have fun, right?
Wrongo. The plot can get extremely stupid, there can be a bunch of character drama, and just, ugh. I don't even want to revisit it for this review, it was so bad.
See, it's a lot of squandered potential. The Feyori - the mystical weird energy-based aliens Ia's been arguing with in the past books - are now at the forefront. They're meddling here, and Ia's messing with them, and...
I mentioned that Ia's a mary sue, right? Well, she is. And that extends to there being absolutely no important villains for her to face, ever. Every single opponent and obstacle she faces is taken care of basically instantly, and this is where it's at its most glaring. The Feyori have been built up all series as spooky weirdos, and here Ia just solves them. Yawn.
There's even a tantalizing hint that she's lost her powers - no she hasn't. It's just a tiny problem she has to solve before she can get back to business.
This adventure would have worked if it were shorter, and you didn't have time to find every irritating plothole...but it's a full novel. And it sucks. I'd say skip it if it weren't important to the plot.
So this is the worst book in the series. The good news is that if you put up with it, you can read the finale which is back up to par and fun to read.
What went wrong? Well, the final book was supposed to be one big volume, but unfortunately the author misjudged and it got too big, so it was cut in half. This is, then, the first half - and much like the training montages, weaker than the sci-fi adventure bits.
Ia and crew have been stranded on a planet, and they work with the local military to kick the Salik off of the planet while they get their new starship built. Sounds good, right? Ia can be a badass soldier and have fun, right?
Wrongo. The plot can get extremely stupid, there can be a bunch of character drama, and just, ugh. I don't even want to revisit it for this review, it was so bad.
See, it's a lot of squandered potential. The Feyori - the mystical weird energy-based aliens Ia's been arguing with in the past books - are now at the forefront. They're meddling here, and Ia's messing with them, and...
I mentioned that Ia's a mary sue, right? Well, she is. And that extends to there being absolutely no important villains for her to face, ever. Every single opponent and obstacle she faces is taken care of basically instantly, and this is where it's at its most glaring. The Feyori have been built up all series as spooky weirdos, and here Ia just solves them. Yawn.
There's even a tantalizing hint that she's lost her powers - no she hasn't. It's just a tiny problem she has to solve before she can get back to business.
This adventure would have worked if it were shorter, and you didn't have time to find every irritating plothole...but it's a full novel. And it sucks. I'd say skip it if it weren't important to the plot.
January 10, 2020
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98 points, 5 STARS!
Alert: Complete and unabashed gushing ahead
Ia's Damned is on Dabin after slagging their ship. It's okay, they have a new ship waiting for them. However, things on Dabin are worse than Ia anticipated as Feyori meddling has reached a crescendo and something has to be done with them or risk the entire Galaxy's falling 300 years from now. The Feyori have made Bloody Mary mad, and now they'll have to pay the consequences.
My standard warning for this series: Don't read this review if you haven't read read prior books in this series and want to. I cannot guarantee no spoilers for previous books in the series, and I don't want you to spoil yourself.
Hardship is the book where, if it were any other series, I'd be complaining that this was a side adventure at best, and why did we even have to read about it? But, because this is Theirs Not to Reason Why, and this is Ia I know it is important. My Prophet says it is important, so it is important. This and Damnation were originally one book, but it grew too long and had to be split apart. I'm okay with this. Others may not be. I just know I love this series too much to complain about having more.
Ia and her crew are without their ship. The entirety of this book is spent on planet for the first time in a long time for the crew. The Salik are trying to control Dabin, which is a perfect planet for their species. While the Damned do fight the Salk a lot, Ia herself has other, more important matters to fight. She is fighting against incompetence in the upper echelon of Dabin's military. It isn't just a fight against fate this time.
Ia is also fighting against the Feyori. They have the same powers as Ia does (though her clairvoyance is way stronger), only they're better at it because they are the font from which her powers come from. Ia made one of the Meddlers very angry a few books ago, and now he is making his move against her. Ia has to reign them in, make them see reason. This fight, while not showy like a space battle, is amazingly well done. Don't make my Prophet angry, you'll regret it! But, the method the Feyori employee against Ia is also amazing. They turn her powers against her so she is fighting herself. It is marvelously well done.
Hardship is the book that sets Ia up for greatness ahead. She told us that Dabin was important. She told us what she does here will have vast implications for what is to come. Yet none of what she foresaw could stack up against the unforeseen good that comes out of going to Dabin. Even my Prophet can be blindsided by a dice roll.
Yes, we spend a whole book on a planet in Hardship. But, the fight was still glorious. The stakes were still high. The solution was still perfectly executed. After this, we're back on a ship, this time Damnation. The joys and fears going on inside me as I gear up to read the last book in this series one more time is unreal. I don't want it to end! But, I need to read it!
Ia'nn Suddha.
98 points, 5 STARS!
Alert: Complete and unabashed gushing ahead
Ia's Damned is on Dabin after slagging their ship. It's okay, they have a new ship waiting for them. However, things on Dabin are worse than Ia anticipated as Feyori meddling has reached a crescendo and something has to be done with them or risk the entire Galaxy's falling 300 years from now. The Feyori have made Bloody Mary mad, and now they'll have to pay the consequences.
My standard warning for this series: Don't read this review if you haven't read read prior books in this series and want to. I cannot guarantee no spoilers for previous books in the series, and I don't want you to spoil yourself.
Hardship is the book where, if it were any other series, I'd be complaining that this was a side adventure at best, and why did we even have to read about it? But, because this is Theirs Not to Reason Why, and this is Ia I know it is important. My Prophet says it is important, so it is important. This and Damnation were originally one book, but it grew too long and had to be split apart. I'm okay with this. Others may not be. I just know I love this series too much to complain about having more.
Ia and her crew are without their ship. The entirety of this book is spent on planet for the first time in a long time for the crew. The Salik are trying to control Dabin, which is a perfect planet for their species. While the Damned do fight the Salk a lot, Ia herself has other, more important matters to fight. She is fighting against incompetence in the upper echelon of Dabin's military. It isn't just a fight against fate this time.
Ia is also fighting against the Feyori. They have the same powers as Ia does (though her clairvoyance is way stronger), only they're better at it because they are the font from which her powers come from. Ia made one of the Meddlers very angry a few books ago, and now he is making his move against her. Ia has to reign them in, make them see reason. This fight, while not showy like a space battle, is amazingly well done. Don't make my Prophet angry, you'll regret it! But, the method the Feyori employee against Ia is also amazing. They turn her powers against her so she is fighting herself. It is marvelously well done.
Hardship is the book that sets Ia up for greatness ahead. She told us that Dabin was important. She told us what she does here will have vast implications for what is to come. Yet none of what she foresaw could stack up against the unforeseen good that comes out of going to Dabin. Even my Prophet can be blindsided by a dice roll.
Yes, we spend a whole book on a planet in Hardship. But, the fight was still glorious. The stakes were still high. The solution was still perfectly executed. After this, we're back on a ship, this time Damnation. The joys and fears going on inside me as I gear up to read the last book in this series one more time is unreal. I don't want it to end! But, I need to read it!
Ia'nn Suddha.
January 25, 2015
Throughout the series there's always this sense that Ia is infallible--that she may make misteps from time to time, but it's less her abilities and more the people around her who don't follow her, or who don't heed her commands/advice. But in this book the author turns that on its head as Ia is placed on Dabin, a planet that is being invaded by the Salik. For once Ia is not on a ship but on the ground and, even more shockingly, events are not turning out as she has foreseen.
A wrong Ia? Turns out there are Feyori on the planet that are messing with her, and now she has to come back and try to find a way to route the Salik as well as regain full use of her abilities. The fact that Ia can't just see every possibility for once was one I was happy to read. How would Ia be as a commander without her ability to foresee events? How would she act in day to day life? You don't see as much of that as I may want, but the parts you do see are entertaining enough that it doesn't matter.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Ia and her Damned make a wonderful team, and that the same cast of characters stick around for this book as well was even more welcome. However, good chunks of the book was just Ia alone. You also see more of the Feyori and, well, that problem is... very interestingly dealt with in the end. A little too easy, perhaps, but the journey to get to that point was a long one so I suppose I could give it a pass, haha.
There were portions of the book that made me raise an eyebrow, specifically concerning future and present Ia and the changes of Ia's ability with time and the time plains. It was just a little... strange? Easy? Especially with how prominent I suspect it will be in the last book it almost feels like cheating. If Ia was powered up before well this is Ia multiplied.
The ending did feel a bit abrupt, but seeing as it was because of a decision to split the last book in two I can see why that happened. That said, the last book is going to have to cover a lot of time or be very long considering how much work Ia still needs to get done. 4 stars.
A wrong Ia? Turns out there are Feyori on the planet that are messing with her, and now she has to come back and try to find a way to route the Salik as well as regain full use of her abilities. The fact that Ia can't just see every possibility for once was one I was happy to read. How would Ia be as a commander without her ability to foresee events? How would she act in day to day life? You don't see as much of that as I may want, but the parts you do see are entertaining enough that it doesn't matter.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Ia and her Damned make a wonderful team, and that the same cast of characters stick around for this book as well was even more welcome. However, good chunks of the book was just Ia alone. You also see more of the Feyori and, well, that problem is... very interestingly dealt with in the end. A little too easy, perhaps, but the journey to get to that point was a long one so I suppose I could give it a pass, haha.
There were portions of the book that made me raise an eyebrow, specifically concerning future and present Ia and the changes of Ia's ability with time and the time plains. It was just a little... strange? Easy? Especially with how prominent I suspect it will be in the last book it almost feels like cheating. If Ia was powered up before well this is Ia multiplied.
The ending did feel a bit abrupt, but seeing as it was because of a decision to split the last book in two I can see why that happened. That said, the last book is going to have to cover a lot of time or be very long considering how much work Ia still needs to get done. 4 stars.
July 21, 2015
This is the second to last book in the series. Ia is racing towards accomplishing her goal in enough time to save humanity.
She's juggling her visions of the future and doing her best to end the war with the Salik.
I like reading about how she's writing down prophecies about things that will happen far off in the future and how she has contingencies. "if the person doesn't do that, then refer to contingency A and down the list, until the person does what we need"
She's a strong female character and the battle scenes are epic.
There are 5 books in this series and the series is complete. The author is going back in time and writing books about the First Salik War.
If you want a good series to binge read, it's complete, no waiting, read this book.
She's juggling her visions of the future and doing her best to end the war with the Salik.
I like reading about how she's writing down prophecies about things that will happen far off in the future and how she has contingencies. "if the person doesn't do that, then refer to contingency A and down the list, until the person does what we need"
She's a strong female character and the battle scenes are epic.
There are 5 books in this series and the series is complete. The author is going back in time and writing books about the First Salik War.
If you want a good series to binge read, it's complete, no waiting, read this book.
January 14, 2015
I admit every time I read a book in this series I need to concentrate harder and harder to understand everything that is happening. And it's not like I'm a novice in sci-fi, peeps. As a matter of fact, I have plenty of sci-fi reads under my belt.*grinning*
Hardship is a pretty quiet read action wise (for Theirs Not To Reason Why series, that is). Ia stays moored on one planet where she has a limited amount of time to break through the blockade and push back Salik, so her prophesies will continue unravel as they should.
However her plans go awry straight away as counter faction of Feyori blocks her foreseeing abilities every step of the way and heavily influences a general of the Terran army who is supposed to listen to her instructions to end the war quickly.
For the first time in years Ia is blind and almost entirely on her own, and she needs to go into hiding deep into the enemy lines (both physical and metaphysical) to best her Feyori opponents. Of course,after a string of tiring battles both in body and on the timelines, she emerges victorious and with a surprising promotion... *winks* Although I don't know why it surprises her with her prophetic abilities and the military carte-blanche she received from her commanders!
There are a few fantastic moments like a duel with Feyori and a demotion of a very blind and stubborn general, but overall this felt like a build up to a grand finale which will happen in the next book, Damnation. I also missed the updates from Ia's native planet which are absent here.
The most confusing part of the plot is Ia's immersion to the time stream to converse with her future selves.I confess at this point my eyes glazed over. Otherwise, it's an interesting, challenging read even if I am more than ready for this very intense series to come to an end. On to the Damnation for me. Recommended!
Hardship is a pretty quiet read action wise (for Theirs Not To Reason Why series, that is). Ia stays moored on one planet where she has a limited amount of time to break through the blockade and push back Salik, so her prophesies will continue unravel as they should.
However her plans go awry straight away as counter faction of Feyori blocks her foreseeing abilities every step of the way and heavily influences a general of the Terran army who is supposed to listen to her instructions to end the war quickly.
For the first time in years Ia is blind and almost entirely on her own, and she needs to go into hiding deep into the enemy lines (both physical and metaphysical) to best her Feyori opponents. Of course,after a string of tiring battles both in body and on the timelines, she emerges victorious and with a surprising promotion... *winks* Although I don't know why it surprises her with her prophetic abilities and the military carte-blanche she received from her commanders!
There are a few fantastic moments like a duel with Feyori and a demotion of a very blind and stubborn general, but overall this felt like a build up to a grand finale which will happen in the next book, Damnation. I also missed the updates from Ia's native planet which are absent here.
The most confusing part of the plot is Ia's immersion to the time stream to converse with her future selves.I confess at this point my eyes glazed over. Otherwise, it's an interesting, challenging read even if I am more than ready for this very intense series to come to an end. On to the Damnation for me. Recommended!
November 19, 2014
I definitely read this, when? I dunno, but I remember reading it and liking it. I'm gonna guess... August? Sounds good...
June 26, 2022
Fast. Fun. Same as the rest of the series.
August 27, 2019
https://delivreenlivres.blogspot.com/...
Une bonne lecture. J'ai trouvé ce tome bien plus facile à lire que les précédent et ça m'a fait un bien énorme et m'a remotivé pour lire la suite rapidement.
Pour vous remettre le contexte en tête, un petit résumé du principe de cette série.
On suit Ia (ia) qui est une jeune femme un peu particulière : elle est une précog. Certaines races extraterrestres finiront par l’appeler "La prophète des temps lointains", et ça évidemment elle le sait déjà dés son enfance.
En fait contrairement aux précogs qui existent déjà, elle a la capacité de voir tout les futurs possibles jusqu'à l'infini, tout les embranchements du plus minime au plus énorme, rien ne lui échappe.
Seulement bien sur quand on est enfant on ne peux pas s’empêcher d'aller voir très très loin pour essayer de trouver la limite de son pouvoir. Et ce que Ia (ia, je précise à chaque fois, sinon tout le monde va lire "la" à la place) a vu a changé sa vie : la fin totale de la vie dans toute la galaxie et au delà. Elle a bien sur essayé de trouver un moyen de l’empêcher, mais c'est heurté à un mur pendant des années.
Jusqu'au moment ou ... oui, elle a enfin trouvé un moyen de l'empêcher, une seule possibilité, tellement minime qu'elle était cachée parmi les millions de milliards de possibilités qui amènent à l'avènement de cette fin du monde quasiment inéluctable.
Et ce futur la va demander une grande dévotion de sa part et aussi la fin de tout ses propre rêves. Elle va devoir choisir entre son propre bonheur, son propre avenir qui pourrait être tout ce qu'elle peut l'imaginer, et celui de toute la galaxie, des centaines d'années après sa propre mort ...
Ceci est évidement le début du premier tome de la série, nous continuons à suivre Ia (ia) tout au long de sa vie, quand elle règle le bon chemin de l'humanité vers le futur qu'elle veut.
Et nombreux sont les obstacles.
Parce qu'elle ne peux pas tout contrôler, bien sur et une bonne partie de l'ensemble n'est constitué que de décisions personnelles d'autres personnes qu'elle ne peux qu'essayer d'influencer (et ce n'est pas facile, même quand les gens commencent à avoir confiance en son don).
Le second obstacle est le fait qu'il y a des nœuds dans son parcours. Des endroits et des moments ou le nombre de décisions importantes sont tellement nombreuses en même temps qu'elle n'arrive plus à les visualiser de façon précises (dans son esprit les files reliant les événements les uns aux autres se mêlent pour donner un gros flou tout blanc). Ces moments sont des tournants de l'histoire et elle ne peux en général que réparer la casse après (ou essayer).
Il faut savoir que la première partie de son plan consiste à faire survivre les humains dans une guerre dans laquelle en temps normal ils se seraient fait plus ou moins anéantir sur le long terme, contre des extraterrestres appelés les Salik. Elle va donc devoir entrer dans l'armée pour la faire évoluer, faire aussi évoluer les technologies, les façons de faire, le commandement, se trouver au bon endroit au bon moment pour que les victoires majeures soient gagnées par les humains.
Mais Ia (ia) n'est pas une combattante, physiquement elle est plutôt faible, et rien que ça va changer toute sa vie.
C'est une série compliquée pour moi, parce que je l'adore mais je pense que j'ai commencé à la lire trop tôt à mon avis dans ma progression de l'anglais. Du coup les premiers tomes ont été très difficiles à lire et je reste avec cette image de série qui demande énormément d’efforts et d'implication pour avancer.
Il faut dire que le style est particulièrement dense, l'ensemble étant principalement constitué de moments ou Ia (ia) attend l'arrivée d'un embranchement en nous expliquant tout ce qui peut dérailler suivant les décisions des autres personnes et comment elle va pouvoir faire repartir la trame dans la bonne direction ensuite.
Du coup c'est essentiellement du monologue avec de très long paragraphes. Très peu de dialogues sauf en général ceux avec sa hiérarchie qui lui demandent des comptes et ou elle doit à nouveau s'expliquer.
Concernant ce tome je suis très contente car j'ai trouvé ça bien plus facile à lire que dans mes souvenirs ce qui est un très bon point même si ça ne m'étonne pas du tout vu mes progrès de ces dernières années.
Dans l'ensemble ce tome ci change un peu dans le sens ou on commence à comprendre contre quoi se bat vraiment Ia (ia) et en quoi c'est un danger pour son plan.
Les Salik sont des adversaires très dangereux car en plus de tout ça ils sont aidés par au moins un être qui a à peu près les même pouvoirs que Ia (ia) mais qui ne sait pas que ses actions vont amener le désastre dans le futur très lointain.
Dans le début de ce tome elle c'est totalement faite submergée et avoir, et le retour à la normale pour son plan sera très difficile. D'ailleurs même après elle n'est pas encore hors de danger parce que si elle a identifié le problème, il faut maintenant le résoudre et le surpasser avant que ça ne devienne trop dangereux.
Le fait d'arriver à lire ce tome bien plus rapidement que les précédent me donne vraiment envie de terminer la série rapidement. Jusqu'ici j'avoue que j'attendais toujours très longtemps entre chaque tome, pas loin des 2 ans, mais vu qu'il ne m'en reste plus que deux après celui ci, il est temps d'aller plus vite.
Au final toujours une bonne lecture, je suis contente de retrouver les personnages et l'ambiance de cette série.
16/20
Une bonne lecture. J'ai trouvé ce tome bien plus facile à lire que les précédent et ça m'a fait un bien énorme et m'a remotivé pour lire la suite rapidement.
Pour vous remettre le contexte en tête, un petit résumé du principe de cette série.
On suit Ia (ia) qui est une jeune femme un peu particulière : elle est une précog. Certaines races extraterrestres finiront par l’appeler "La prophète des temps lointains", et ça évidemment elle le sait déjà dés son enfance.
En fait contrairement aux précogs qui existent déjà, elle a la capacité de voir tout les futurs possibles jusqu'à l'infini, tout les embranchements du plus minime au plus énorme, rien ne lui échappe.
Seulement bien sur quand on est enfant on ne peux pas s’empêcher d'aller voir très très loin pour essayer de trouver la limite de son pouvoir. Et ce que Ia (ia, je précise à chaque fois, sinon tout le monde va lire "la" à la place) a vu a changé sa vie : la fin totale de la vie dans toute la galaxie et au delà. Elle a bien sur essayé de trouver un moyen de l’empêcher, mais c'est heurté à un mur pendant des années.
Jusqu'au moment ou ... oui, elle a enfin trouvé un moyen de l'empêcher, une seule possibilité, tellement minime qu'elle était cachée parmi les millions de milliards de possibilités qui amènent à l'avènement de cette fin du monde quasiment inéluctable.
Et ce futur la va demander une grande dévotion de sa part et aussi la fin de tout ses propre rêves. Elle va devoir choisir entre son propre bonheur, son propre avenir qui pourrait être tout ce qu'elle peut l'imaginer, et celui de toute la galaxie, des centaines d'années après sa propre mort ...
Ceci est évidement le début du premier tome de la série, nous continuons à suivre Ia (ia) tout au long de sa vie, quand elle règle le bon chemin de l'humanité vers le futur qu'elle veut.
Et nombreux sont les obstacles.
Parce qu'elle ne peux pas tout contrôler, bien sur et une bonne partie de l'ensemble n'est constitué que de décisions personnelles d'autres personnes qu'elle ne peux qu'essayer d'influencer (et ce n'est pas facile, même quand les gens commencent à avoir confiance en son don).
Le second obstacle est le fait qu'il y a des nœuds dans son parcours. Des endroits et des moments ou le nombre de décisions importantes sont tellement nombreuses en même temps qu'elle n'arrive plus à les visualiser de façon précises (dans son esprit les files reliant les événements les uns aux autres se mêlent pour donner un gros flou tout blanc). Ces moments sont des tournants de l'histoire et elle ne peux en général que réparer la casse après (ou essayer).
Il faut savoir que la première partie de son plan consiste à faire survivre les humains dans une guerre dans laquelle en temps normal ils se seraient fait plus ou moins anéantir sur le long terme, contre des extraterrestres appelés les Salik. Elle va donc devoir entrer dans l'armée pour la faire évoluer, faire aussi évoluer les technologies, les façons de faire, le commandement, se trouver au bon endroit au bon moment pour que les victoires majeures soient gagnées par les humains.
Mais Ia (ia) n'est pas une combattante, physiquement elle est plutôt faible, et rien que ça va changer toute sa vie.
C'est une série compliquée pour moi, parce que je l'adore mais je pense que j'ai commencé à la lire trop tôt à mon avis dans ma progression de l'anglais. Du coup les premiers tomes ont été très difficiles à lire et je reste avec cette image de série qui demande énormément d’efforts et d'implication pour avancer.
Il faut dire que le style est particulièrement dense, l'ensemble étant principalement constitué de moments ou Ia (ia) attend l'arrivée d'un embranchement en nous expliquant tout ce qui peut dérailler suivant les décisions des autres personnes et comment elle va pouvoir faire repartir la trame dans la bonne direction ensuite.
Du coup c'est essentiellement du monologue avec de très long paragraphes. Très peu de dialogues sauf en général ceux avec sa hiérarchie qui lui demandent des comptes et ou elle doit à nouveau s'expliquer.
Concernant ce tome je suis très contente car j'ai trouvé ça bien plus facile à lire que dans mes souvenirs ce qui est un très bon point même si ça ne m'étonne pas du tout vu mes progrès de ces dernières années.
Dans l'ensemble ce tome ci change un peu dans le sens ou on commence à comprendre contre quoi se bat vraiment Ia (ia) et en quoi c'est un danger pour son plan.
Les Salik sont des adversaires très dangereux car en plus de tout ça ils sont aidés par au moins un être qui a à peu près les même pouvoirs que Ia (ia) mais qui ne sait pas que ses actions vont amener le désastre dans le futur très lointain.
Dans le début de ce tome elle c'est totalement faite submergée et avoir, et le retour à la normale pour son plan sera très difficile. D'ailleurs même après elle n'est pas encore hors de danger parce que si elle a identifié le problème, il faut maintenant le résoudre et le surpasser avant que ça ne devienne trop dangereux.
Le fait d'arriver à lire ce tome bien plus rapidement que les précédent me donne vraiment envie de terminer la série rapidement. Jusqu'ici j'avoue que j'attendais toujours très longtemps entre chaque tome, pas loin des 2 ans, mais vu qu'il ne m'en reste plus que deux après celui ci, il est temps d'aller plus vite.
Au final toujours une bonne lecture, je suis contente de retrouver les personnages et l'ambiance de cette série.
16/20
June 27, 2017
These books aren't so much about the characters but more about how can humanities annihilation be avoided by a precognitive who can see thousands of years in the future.
While in the other books the character development being on the back seat was just plain annoying, in Hardship at least it's getting exciting to see where it's going and how this power is hindered somewhat. The solution to the issue is somewhat far fetched, but who cares... If you made it this fare, far fetched isn't stopping you :)
While in the other books the character development being on the back seat was just plain annoying, in Hardship at least it's getting exciting to see where it's going and how this power is hindered somewhat. The solution to the issue is somewhat far fetched, but who cares... If you made it this fare, far fetched isn't stopping you :)
February 24, 2018
This was originally planned as a 4 book series. Except book 4 was twice as long. I believe that the author and publisher made the correct decision to break the last book into books 4 and 5, instead.
Book 4 covers plenty of action until Ia gets her next ship in book 5.
Murphy (of Murphy's Law) features prominently in this space opera series. So Ia has plenty of challenges.
Again highly recommended page-turning space opera and I am already sad that I'm on the last book. I will certainly miss Ia and her valiant crew!
Book 4 covers plenty of action until Ia gets her next ship in book 5.
Murphy (of Murphy's Law) features prominently in this space opera series. So Ia has plenty of challenges.
Again highly recommended page-turning space opera and I am already sad that I'm on the last book. I will certainly miss Ia and her valiant crew!
July 27, 2017
I think this is the one where Ia finally makes a mistake, which was nice.
What can I say, I mainlined this series. And was too embarrassed to explain the plot to someone who asked what I was reading so avidly.
What can I say, I mainlined this series. And was too embarrassed to explain the plot to someone who asked what I was reading so avidly.
February 2, 2018
Probably my least favorite of the series so far, but that may be because it was originally intended as a four book series, but the final section was so large, that it was broke into two books. So we will have to combine the final (Damnation) into consideration.
February 11, 2022
Hellfire honestly was a bit to slow for me. I just felt like it was neverending at some point. This one i liked way way more. It was more surprising and unpredictable, stakes seemed higher. And i had no problem reading it at all. Maybe my favorite so far.
February 9, 2018
Definitely shows as originally planned as two books,but that's OK.
March 9, 2018
carries on the narrative, which I found interesting--also, Jean admits to addomg am additional volume (Damnation) which is great; one more to go!
August 18, 2019
Well this answered the question, “What happens when Ia is blocked/stymied?”
But there was still minimal conflict, minimal build up. Definitely just trying to make it to the end. Silly sunk costs.
But there was still minimal conflict, minimal build up. Definitely just trying to make it to the end. Silly sunk costs.
September 12, 2019
extra 1/2 star
March 10, 2022
Again another winner of a book by the author, the world building is excellent and character development was great
July 11, 2024
Things start getting a bit confusing at times with multiple instances of Ia, but it was still a good book in the series.
December 18, 2024
7 less interesting in the series, end a bit disapointing
November 22, 2014
You can read the full review over at my blog:
http://sonsofcorax.wordpress.com/2014...
My first experience with Jean Johnson was back in 2012 when I heard her on the SF Signal podcast with host Patrick Hester. During the podcast she talked about her military SF series Theirs Not To Reason Why that features a female protagonist who happens to have some powerful natural abilities such as pre/post-cognition, telekinesis and the like and who is on a quest to save the galaxy from an extinction-level threat that will not occur for hundreds of years yet. I read the first three novels in the series last year and they all happened to be quite excellent stories that made me a Jean Johnson fan for life. And now, with the fifth and final book in the series just days away from publication, here’s my review of the fourth novel, which I read last month.
Hardship was originally intended to be the fourth and final book in the series, titled Damnation at the time. But as I learned from Jean herself lately, the final volume ended up being too big and the decision was made to split it into two parts. So Hardship is technically the first of a 2-part finale for Jean’s highly ambitious and grandiose story of Theirs Not To Reason Why. And it is just as excellent as the previous books. With things moving towards a conclusion, there’s a sense of finality in the novel and that there is a big confluence of events happening, so the novel checks off on all the things I wanted to see from it, and more.
With each of the books in the series Jean has tried to do something different. The first novel, A Soldier’s Duty was mostly about the protagonist Ia’s training as a soldier and her first assignments as a marine. The second novel, An Officer’s Duty, took Ia towards naval command and took her back to an academy setting for the first big act. Then the third novel, Hellfire, took Ia out in the thick of the new Salik War that she had partially initiated to bring about a series of events that she had foreseen years in advance, all to prepare the galaxy for a threat unlike any other several hundred years in the future. The action ramped up in the three books at a steady pace and as Ia developed as a protagonist, so did I as a reader, seeing different sides of her in each book.
And now with Hardship, there’s yet more differences to be seen. First of all, I’ll say that I outright missed Bloody Mary. That’s the nickname given to Ia from her first mission as a TUPSF marine, if I recall correctly, or one of the earlier ones at any rate. She literally drenched herself in the blood of her enemies as she fought them, and created a legend for herself that has aided her well during her service in the military and then the navy and now as a Ship’s Captain.
But at the same time, we also get to see Ia in a situation that sees her actively take part in political maneuverings within the military and also deal with the consequences of Feyori meddling within the ongoing Salik war. It puts her in a position where she herself becomes the threat to her people, the crew of the Hellfire, the ship that she unfortunately had to scuttle at the end of Hellfire (the novel). Now, they are stranded on a planet without an easy extraction since the Salik have interdicted the planet and are waging an all-out war against all TUPSF assets present.
By putting Ia in a situation where she actively has to smash down a few Feyori who think that they can take her on, Jean creates a situation where we see Ia become a much more dominant personality in interstellar politics than we have until now. The Feyori are a race of energy beings who meddle in politics everywhere for their own gain and who create factions of their own people to take on yet others, and the result is that the web gets very, very complicated no matter which angle you look at it. And Ia is the solution to it all since she needs the Feyori on her side to bring about the future where the galaxy has a hair’s breadth chance against the coming threat in the future.
No Bloody Mary in this novel, sure, but we do get Ia the badass who knows full well how to deal with highly troublesome Feyori who can cause some big wrinkles in the future she is trying to create. And them doing it all through the TUPSF itself is kind of a master stroke since Ia has to once again defend herself against the highest military authority in the TUP and we get to see more of her grand plans and how she is able to navigate all of it.
http://sonsofcorax.wordpress.com/2014...
My first experience with Jean Johnson was back in 2012 when I heard her on the SF Signal podcast with host Patrick Hester. During the podcast she talked about her military SF series Theirs Not To Reason Why that features a female protagonist who happens to have some powerful natural abilities such as pre/post-cognition, telekinesis and the like and who is on a quest to save the galaxy from an extinction-level threat that will not occur for hundreds of years yet. I read the first three novels in the series last year and they all happened to be quite excellent stories that made me a Jean Johnson fan for life. And now, with the fifth and final book in the series just days away from publication, here’s my review of the fourth novel, which I read last month.
Hardship was originally intended to be the fourth and final book in the series, titled Damnation at the time. But as I learned from Jean herself lately, the final volume ended up being too big and the decision was made to split it into two parts. So Hardship is technically the first of a 2-part finale for Jean’s highly ambitious and grandiose story of Theirs Not To Reason Why. And it is just as excellent as the previous books. With things moving towards a conclusion, there’s a sense of finality in the novel and that there is a big confluence of events happening, so the novel checks off on all the things I wanted to see from it, and more.
With each of the books in the series Jean has tried to do something different. The first novel, A Soldier’s Duty was mostly about the protagonist Ia’s training as a soldier and her first assignments as a marine. The second novel, An Officer’s Duty, took Ia towards naval command and took her back to an academy setting for the first big act. Then the third novel, Hellfire, took Ia out in the thick of the new Salik War that she had partially initiated to bring about a series of events that she had foreseen years in advance, all to prepare the galaxy for a threat unlike any other several hundred years in the future. The action ramped up in the three books at a steady pace and as Ia developed as a protagonist, so did I as a reader, seeing different sides of her in each book.
And now with Hardship, there’s yet more differences to be seen. First of all, I’ll say that I outright missed Bloody Mary. That’s the nickname given to Ia from her first mission as a TUPSF marine, if I recall correctly, or one of the earlier ones at any rate. She literally drenched herself in the blood of her enemies as she fought them, and created a legend for herself that has aided her well during her service in the military and then the navy and now as a Ship’s Captain.
But at the same time, we also get to see Ia in a situation that sees her actively take part in political maneuverings within the military and also deal with the consequences of Feyori meddling within the ongoing Salik war. It puts her in a position where she herself becomes the threat to her people, the crew of the Hellfire, the ship that she unfortunately had to scuttle at the end of Hellfire (the novel). Now, they are stranded on a planet without an easy extraction since the Salik have interdicted the planet and are waging an all-out war against all TUPSF assets present.
By putting Ia in a situation where she actively has to smash down a few Feyori who think that they can take her on, Jean creates a situation where we see Ia become a much more dominant personality in interstellar politics than we have until now. The Feyori are a race of energy beings who meddle in politics everywhere for their own gain and who create factions of their own people to take on yet others, and the result is that the web gets very, very complicated no matter which angle you look at it. And Ia is the solution to it all since she needs the Feyori on her side to bring about the future where the galaxy has a hair’s breadth chance against the coming threat in the future.
No Bloody Mary in this novel, sure, but we do get Ia the badass who knows full well how to deal with highly troublesome Feyori who can cause some big wrinkles in the future she is trying to create. And them doing it all through the TUPSF itself is kind of a master stroke since Ia has to once again defend herself against the highest military authority in the TUP and we get to see more of her grand plans and how she is able to navigate all of it.
August 3, 2014
Originally published at The Book Pushers
I will be horribly sad to see this series end. At the same time, I really, really wish it finished. I desperately want to know how everything turns out. Unfortunately for fans of the series, book 4 got a bit too long and become book 4, Hardship and book 5, Damnation.
Damnation, indeed.
On the other hand, the story in Hardship, while important to Ia’s story and to the war she is fighting, does have a bit of a feeling of an interlude between major themes, just as Ia and her ship’s company are stuck planetside for this part of their story.
Ia began her story in A Soldier's Duty as barely adult and just inducted into the Terran United Planets Space Force (TUPSF) as a Marine grunt. She starts herself at the bottom rung of the ladder because Ia knows that she must. She is a massive precog and she has seen the future. It sucks, it blows and every other epithet you can think of.
All sentient life will be wiped out of the galaxy in 300 years, unless…unless Ia moves herself and everyone she ever contacts into the tiniest sliver of possibility that allows for survival. At the cost of her life and dreams, and the lives of all too many others.
Her duty is to make that change. Not to take it, but to actually force it to come into being out of the slimmest margins of possibility.
She rises through the ranks at relatively quick speed, but only as fast as necessary. Until she and her crew are forced to abandon ship in the middle of the Salik blockade of the planet Dabin. They are stuck planetside until she figures out a solution.
And for the first time, there is someone consciously blocking Ia’s access to the timestreams, rendering her precognition not merely useless, but absolutely detrimental to her own cause. And all because of a stupid game, one that exploits human weaknesses.
Unfortunately those weaknesses are embodied by the Army General in charge of planet-side defenses. He wants to be George S. Patton in a theatre of war that would be much better suited to Merrill’s Marauders. In his ego, totally meddled with by alien players, he’s just sure that he knows better than a mere Ship’s Captain, even one who can see the future.
Ia has to take on her own military command to conserve the lives of the soldiers and the civilians on one planet that she knows is key to the outcome of the war. The question is whether it will end her career, or her life.
The story in Hardship is different from some of the early entries in the series in that this is the first time where Ia’s precognition is completely blocked. Usually, she can see all the possible results of every event, and while watching her navigate the probabilities is fascinating, having a protagonist who really does “know it all” can sometimes lessen the tension in places where it shouldn’t.
In Hardship, Ia’s reduction to something closer to human makes her vulnerable; she doesn’t know much more than we do. She’s still awesome on many fronts, but when her ability is blocked, she loses confidence in herself. Her crisis makes her more human.
Her ability to work the military chain of command, and to know when it’s time to kick ass and ask forgiveness later, is tremendously fun to watch. Her dealings with the recalcitrant general, and what happens when she finally reaches the point where he can’t be allowed to continue, were terrific. I wanted to stand up and cheer when she gives the high command a dressing down on what an idiot the general was, and by extension what idiots they are being.
If you like military SF at all, start with A Soldier’s Duty and get yourself introduced to Ia and the legend of Bloody Mary. She’s awesome.
I give Hardship an A.
I will be horribly sad to see this series end. At the same time, I really, really wish it finished. I desperately want to know how everything turns out. Unfortunately for fans of the series, book 4 got a bit too long and become book 4, Hardship and book 5, Damnation.
Damnation, indeed.
On the other hand, the story in Hardship, while important to Ia’s story and to the war she is fighting, does have a bit of a feeling of an interlude between major themes, just as Ia and her ship’s company are stuck planetside for this part of their story.
Ia began her story in A Soldier's Duty as barely adult and just inducted into the Terran United Planets Space Force (TUPSF) as a Marine grunt. She starts herself at the bottom rung of the ladder because Ia knows that she must. She is a massive precog and she has seen the future. It sucks, it blows and every other epithet you can think of.
All sentient life will be wiped out of the galaxy in 300 years, unless…unless Ia moves herself and everyone she ever contacts into the tiniest sliver of possibility that allows for survival. At the cost of her life and dreams, and the lives of all too many others.
Her duty is to make that change. Not to take it, but to actually force it to come into being out of the slimmest margins of possibility.
She rises through the ranks at relatively quick speed, but only as fast as necessary. Until she and her crew are forced to abandon ship in the middle of the Salik blockade of the planet Dabin. They are stuck planetside until she figures out a solution.
And for the first time, there is someone consciously blocking Ia’s access to the timestreams, rendering her precognition not merely useless, but absolutely detrimental to her own cause. And all because of a stupid game, one that exploits human weaknesses.
Unfortunately those weaknesses are embodied by the Army General in charge of planet-side defenses. He wants to be George S. Patton in a theatre of war that would be much better suited to Merrill’s Marauders. In his ego, totally meddled with by alien players, he’s just sure that he knows better than a mere Ship’s Captain, even one who can see the future.
Ia has to take on her own military command to conserve the lives of the soldiers and the civilians on one planet that she knows is key to the outcome of the war. The question is whether it will end her career, or her life.
The story in Hardship is different from some of the early entries in the series in that this is the first time where Ia’s precognition is completely blocked. Usually, she can see all the possible results of every event, and while watching her navigate the probabilities is fascinating, having a protagonist who really does “know it all” can sometimes lessen the tension in places where it shouldn’t.
In Hardship, Ia’s reduction to something closer to human makes her vulnerable; she doesn’t know much more than we do. She’s still awesome on many fronts, but when her ability is blocked, she loses confidence in herself. Her crisis makes her more human.
Her ability to work the military chain of command, and to know when it’s time to kick ass and ask forgiveness later, is tremendously fun to watch. Her dealings with the recalcitrant general, and what happens when she finally reaches the point where he can’t be allowed to continue, were terrific. I wanted to stand up and cheer when she gives the high command a dressing down on what an idiot the general was, and by extension what idiots they are being.
If you like military SF at all, start with A Soldier’s Duty and get yourself introduced to Ia and the legend of Bloody Mary. She’s awesome.
I give Hardship an A.
July 12, 2015
Up until the end, I was prepared to say this was easily the best book of Theirs Not to Reason Why. There's success coupled with failures. There's legitimate obstacles in Ia's way. It was refreshing. After all, Ia is a Mary Sue. Nobody should question this, and anyone who's read this far into the series has done so with the acceptance that they are reading a Mary Sue. Circumstantially, we've come to accept Ia's need to *be* a Mary Sue. But writing a legitimately interesting one means that there will be at least speed bumps to deal with, and Ia had two really big ones in this work. It kept the plot meaningful.
The other thing that made Hardship superior to the previous three books is that the plot is much tighter. Which is to say, that there is a legitimate plot. The first three books spent too much time dallying around in basic training, and jumping from episode to episode, and being in an incohesive mass of isolated events. Hardship is about one single solitary event. That event spans close to two months, but as compared with the prequels which have been spread out over two or more years?
So yes, Hardship is the winner so far, with only Damnation left to potentially supplant it. It's ironic that Johnson's need to fit too much into the plot has resulted in a book split that left her with the tightest manuscript we've seen so far. Were the series to extend farther, I would advise her to replicate what she did here with Hardship and focus on smaller scale, yet no less epic, plotlines.
That isn't to say Hardship is perfect. For every Mara Sunrise, there were ten bland meaningless characters. For the promise of an epic Feyori showdown, there was the letdown of a OHKO. For the time we witness Ia go off slaughtering Salik on her own, there's a multitude of political jockeying and bureaucratic interference. And Ia's promotion at the end, although warranted if the Admiral-General has reasonable foresight (heh), still seemed like too much too fast. Even Ia agreed with that.
But there's one thing that Hardship gives us that we've barely seen in the first three books, and that is that Ia can be vulnerable. Not weak -- never that -- but capable of being human in non-nominal ways, and showing that she can and does have real emotions. Too often she's seemed too much like what you'd get if you gave Lt. Comm Data prophetic abilities. Hardship gave us the best we'll see of Ia, and I'm pretty confident Damnation's going to return to the same formula as before. I just wish I had some idea how Johnson planned on concluding the entire series in just one more book -- a book which was supposed to originally contain Hardship as a subset. At least we can be glad she didn't.
The other thing that made Hardship superior to the previous three books is that the plot is much tighter. Which is to say, that there is a legitimate plot. The first three books spent too much time dallying around in basic training, and jumping from episode to episode, and being in an incohesive mass of isolated events. Hardship is about one single solitary event. That event spans close to two months, but as compared with the prequels which have been spread out over two or more years?
So yes, Hardship is the winner so far, with only Damnation left to potentially supplant it. It's ironic that Johnson's need to fit too much into the plot has resulted in a book split that left her with the tightest manuscript we've seen so far. Were the series to extend farther, I would advise her to replicate what she did here with Hardship and focus on smaller scale, yet no less epic, plotlines.
That isn't to say Hardship is perfect. For every Mara Sunrise, there were ten bland meaningless characters. For the promise of an epic Feyori showdown, there was the letdown of a OHKO. For the time we witness Ia go off slaughtering Salik on her own, there's a multitude of political jockeying and bureaucratic interference. And Ia's promotion at the end, although warranted if the Admiral-General has reasonable foresight (heh), still seemed like too much too fast. Even Ia agreed with that.
But there's one thing that Hardship gives us that we've barely seen in the first three books, and that is that Ia can be vulnerable. Not weak -- never that -- but capable of being human in non-nominal ways, and showing that she can and does have real emotions. Too often she's seemed too much like what you'd get if you gave Lt. Comm Data prophetic abilities. Hardship gave us the best we'll see of Ia, and I'm pretty confident Damnation's going to return to the same formula as before. I just wish I had some idea how Johnson planned on concluding the entire series in just one more book -- a book which was supposed to originally contain Hardship as a subset. At least we can be glad she didn't.
August 18, 2014
This is an excellent instalment in the Theirs Not to Reason Why book series. The book blurb is a wee bit misleading though. At least the first bit. The destruction of Ia’s ship at the end of the last book was intentional to begin with. The blurb makes it sound like Ia’s damned are demoralized due to it. It is true that they are demoralized for parts of this book but that is more due to events in this book itself rather than starting out demoralized like the blurb makes you believe. It is however my great pleasure to say that the last statement of the blurb is very much accurate. Ia gets seriously pissed off in this book and a pissed of Ia makes for some very entertaining reading.
The book starts off with Ia pretty sure of herself predicting the future as usual. Pretty soon though it turns out that someone have been messing with the timestreams and Ia’s precognitive abilities on Dabin. Not very surprisingly, the Terran army commander is both influenced by meddling forces as well as being arrogant and generally incompetent. All of this forces Ia to take matters into her own hands, literally, without relying on her precognitive abilities.
Luckily, Ia is not only a serious badass but have more than a few tricks up her sleeve. After going on a wee killing spree among the Salik invaders she turns her focus on the meddlers as well as one arrogant and incompetent General. Well, obviously I will not spoil the book by giving out too many details but I did indeed like those parts of the book…tremendously.
The book have all the bits that made me like the previous books. Sometimes the book slows down a bit with long talkative parts, especially during a military hearing in the second half of the book. This did not feel as disrupting in this book as in some of the previous ones though. At least not as far as I remember the previous books. The overall impression is that this is a very enjoyable, even great, book.
The book ends at a fairly logical place after the situation on Dabin have been dealt with yet it does end rather in the middle of things. A bit like the first of the Lord of The Rings movies which probably surprised a few people with its ending equally in the middle of the story. My understanding is that it was only planned to make four books but that the fourth one became too long so it was more or less just cut into two books rather than cutting it down heavily. Personally I am grateful for that. It makes one for more book that I can look forward to.
The book starts off with Ia pretty sure of herself predicting the future as usual. Pretty soon though it turns out that someone have been messing with the timestreams and Ia’s precognitive abilities on Dabin. Not very surprisingly, the Terran army commander is both influenced by meddling forces as well as being arrogant and generally incompetent. All of this forces Ia to take matters into her own hands, literally, without relying on her precognitive abilities.
Luckily, Ia is not only a serious badass but have more than a few tricks up her sleeve. After going on a wee killing spree among the Salik invaders she turns her focus on the meddlers as well as one arrogant and incompetent General. Well, obviously I will not spoil the book by giving out too many details but I did indeed like those parts of the book…tremendously.
The book have all the bits that made me like the previous books. Sometimes the book slows down a bit with long talkative parts, especially during a military hearing in the second half of the book. This did not feel as disrupting in this book as in some of the previous ones though. At least not as far as I remember the previous books. The overall impression is that this is a very enjoyable, even great, book.
The book ends at a fairly logical place after the situation on Dabin have been dealt with yet it does end rather in the middle of things. A bit like the first of the Lord of The Rings movies which probably surprised a few people with its ending equally in the middle of the story. My understanding is that it was only planned to make four books but that the fourth one became too long so it was more or less just cut into two books rather than cutting it down heavily. Personally I am grateful for that. It makes one for more book that I can look forward to.
September 6, 2014
Every year, I am eagerly awaiting the month of August. Not only because it is my birthday, but because I will be able to read the next book in the “Theirs not to reason why” series. From the first book I have fallen in love with this series, and it is still one of the best I have ever read. Originally a 4 book series, the last book was so thick, the decision was made to cut it in half, and make it a 5 book series. I am very happy with that decision, as it means one more great reading time to look forward to, and half of the story did not die on the editing table.
This book picks up exactly where book 3 ended, so you really need to start with book 1 to make any sense of the story.
After destroying her own ship (after her crew got to safety), Ia transformed herself into a Feyori, her father’s people, and went of to gain their help in her plans to save the galaxy. She managed it too, for a big part. She still has some actively opposing her. They can’t see the bigger picture, they only see a half-blood meddling in the Great Game. Ia and her Company of the Damned are sent to Dabin, Harper’s home planet. It needs to be saved from the invasion of the Salik. Dabin plays an important part in the future and it is very important to Ia’s plans to chase all the Salik off-planet before a certain time. Leading her troops, and giving Harper his own troops to command, means a lot of action and battle time.
The book is filled with action, and battle, but in my opinion, we also see some more emotion from Ia. She is still growing in power, doing things she never thought possible. It does seem a bit “deus machina” at times though, a little too convenient.
I enjoyed it all though, even though the action this time is all planet bound instead of space battles. But at the end of the book, Ia is ready to take command of her new ship, and I so look forward to the next book.
Sadly, there is no update on the battle going on on her own home planet, I would love to read more about her brothers and the Resistance, or the Fire Girl’s prophecy and what it means in the future.
10 stars.
This book picks up exactly where book 3 ended, so you really need to start with book 1 to make any sense of the story.
After destroying her own ship (after her crew got to safety), Ia transformed herself into a Feyori, her father’s people, and went of to gain their help in her plans to save the galaxy. She managed it too, for a big part. She still has some actively opposing her. They can’t see the bigger picture, they only see a half-blood meddling in the Great Game. Ia and her Company of the Damned are sent to Dabin, Harper’s home planet. It needs to be saved from the invasion of the Salik. Dabin plays an important part in the future and it is very important to Ia’s plans to chase all the Salik off-planet before a certain time. Leading her troops, and giving Harper his own troops to command, means a lot of action and battle time.
The book is filled with action, and battle, but in my opinion, we also see some more emotion from Ia. She is still growing in power, doing things she never thought possible. It does seem a bit “deus machina” at times though, a little too convenient.
I enjoyed it all though, even though the action this time is all planet bound instead of space battles. But at the end of the book, Ia is ready to take command of her new ship, and I so look forward to the next book.
Sadly, there is no update on the battle going on on her own home planet, I would love to read more about her brothers and the Resistance, or the Fire Girl’s prophecy and what it means in the future.
10 stars.
© 2014 Reviews by Aurian
September 1, 2014
This was the most disappointing of the four books done so far, which is not to say it was a bad book, but only that it had the opportunity to be so much more.
The annoying thing about the previous books was how Ia was always right, she always knew what was going to happen snd pretty much had every action that she, and the people around her, were going to take completely planned out. It kind of takes a bit of the drama away when the main character knows everything in advance and your just along for the ride.
So, I was pleased as punch when Ia had some issues with her precognative abilities. The author could have built the whole book around this premise, but I felt that she didn't take it nearly as far as she could have. She figured out the problem (which, sadly, everyone who reads the books will figure out before her) and fixes it up all too soon. I'd have liked to have seen a little more of a struggle to figure out the cause of the problems, and a little more combat action would have been nice too.
The issues with the local General were also predictable. I wish I had a nickle for every time I've read a book where the hero goes up against a incompetent superior officer and then has to save the day in the end to make up for their mistakes.
If I'm being hard on the book, it's only because I keep waiting for them to take the next step into being something special, but they keep falling just short. The final book is coming out in December. Fingers are crossed.
The annoying thing about the previous books was how Ia was always right, she always knew what was going to happen snd pretty much had every action that she, and the people around her, were going to take completely planned out. It kind of takes a bit of the drama away when the main character knows everything in advance and your just along for the ride.
So, I was pleased as punch when Ia had some issues with her precognative abilities. The author could have built the whole book around this premise, but I felt that she didn't take it nearly as far as she could have. She figured out the problem (which, sadly, everyone who reads the books will figure out before her) and fixes it up all too soon. I'd have liked to have seen a little more of a struggle to figure out the cause of the problems, and a little more combat action would have been nice too.
The issues with the local General were also predictable. I wish I had a nickle for every time I've read a book where the hero goes up against a incompetent superior officer and then has to save the day in the end to make up for their mistakes.
If I'm being hard on the book, it's only because I keep waiting for them to take the next step into being something special, but they keep falling just short. The final book is coming out in December. Fingers are crossed.
December 28, 2014
I still love this series. I can see it's not perfect: whenever the main character Ia has to explain something to her superiors, it tends to get a bit preachy, and Ia herself is perhaps a little too perfect and powerful. On the other hand, it is needed, for she is faced with a tremendous task, and in this book, things don't go as perfectly as they have in the previous ones (with the exception of the time when ).
And there is no doubt about it: Ia is exceptionally competent, these books are low on romance (this part had about none), and Ia is not the only female a) in the military who is b) competent and c) holds a position of power.
When I bought this book, I already expected that the last part of the series had been split in two, since the book was not quite as thick as the previous ones. I was right, the book had gotten too thick to be one book. I'll have to wait to get the last book, and I'm really curious to see how Jean Johnson will wrap this up, for it seems to me even Ia's story still has a long way to go: she still has to win the Salik war, let only the war with the Greys. And then there are the things that are still to happen after her death: the end of the universe is not due for another 300 years, after all. So I'm hoping hard that there will be more books. First, more on Ia, and then more on the time after that.
And there is no doubt about it: Ia is exceptionally competent, these books are low on romance (this part had about none), and Ia is not the only female a) in the military who is b) competent and c) holds a position of power.
When I bought this book, I already expected that the last part of the series had been split in two, since the book was not quite as thick as the previous ones. I was right, the book had gotten too thick to be one book. I'll have to wait to get the last book, and I'm really curious to see how Jean Johnson will wrap this up, for it seems to me even Ia's story still has a long way to go: she still has to win the Salik war, let only the war with the Greys. And then there are the things that are still to happen after her death: the end of the universe is not due for another 300 years, after all. So I'm hoping hard that there will be more books. First, more on Ia, and then more on the time after that.
August 10, 2014
Jean Johnson, I hate you! (Not really!) I have to wait until December for the next and last book. December! All this reading about Time, I realize that is both forever away and close to now... But right after finishing this, it feels like forever.
I can't say much without spoilers, and I'm generally against them. Needless to say, this was thoroughly an enjoyable read. I really hope that Ia and Harper get some kind of HEA, but I see that that is an unlikely scenario. One of my favorite parts (without giving anything else away) is when another character references The Silence of the Lambs as "Classic literature." Not only was the reference amusing in itself, but I have a deeply held belief that many novels that are currently just "popular fiction" will make their way to being Classic lit, taught in classrooms and the like- for which the authors would probably laugh their asses off.
I'm also pretty confused how all the threads will be tied up with the last book. There's a lot of ground/space/Time to cover. Maybe there will be more? Or spin-offs for the future important people? I think that now that Johnson has proven adept at not-just-romance, this will hopefully not be her last foray into the field or this Universe she's created.
I can't say much without spoilers, and I'm generally against them. Needless to say, this was thoroughly an enjoyable read. I really hope that Ia and Harper get some kind of HEA, but I see that that is an unlikely scenario. One of my favorite parts (without giving anything else away) is when another character references The Silence of the Lambs as "Classic literature." Not only was the reference amusing in itself, but I have a deeply held belief that many novels that are currently just "popular fiction" will make their way to being Classic lit, taught in classrooms and the like- for which the authors would probably laugh their asses off.
I'm also pretty confused how all the threads will be tied up with the last book. There's a lot of ground/space/Time to cover. Maybe there will be more? Or spin-offs for the future important people? I think that now that Johnson has proven adept at not-just-romance, this will hopefully not be her last foray into the field or this Universe she's created.
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