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Spectre War #1
Nova
*36:00:00*
The clock activates so suddenly in my mind, my head involuntarily jerks a bit to the side. The fog vanishes, dissipated in an instant as though it never was. Memories come slotting into place, their edges sharp enough to leave furrows, and suddenly I know. I know exactly who I am.
My name is Lia Johansen, and I was named for a prisoner of war. She lived in the Tiersten Internment Colony for two years, and when they negotiated the return of the prisoners, I was given her memories and sent back in her place.
And I am a genetically engineered human bomb.
Lia Johansen was created for only one purpose: to slip onto the strategically placed New Sol Space Station and explode. But her mission goes to hell when her clock malfunctions, freezing her countdown with just two minutes to go. With no Plan B, no memories of her past, and no identity besides a name stolen from a dead POW, Lia has no idea what to do next. Her life gets even more complicated when she meets Michael Sorenson, the real Lia’s childhood best friend.
Drawn to Michael and his family against her better judgment, Lia starts learning what it means to live and love, and to be human. It is only when her countdown clock begins sporadically losing time that she realizes even duds can still blow up. If she wants any chance at a future, she must find a way to unlock the secrets of her past and stop her clock. But as Lia digs into her origins, she begins to suspect there’s far more to her mission and to this war, than meets the eye. With the fate of not just a space station but an entire empire hanging in the balance, Lia races to find the truth before her time—literally—runs out.
The clock activates so suddenly in my mind, my head involuntarily jerks a bit to the side. The fog vanishes, dissipated in an instant as though it never was. Memories come slotting into place, their edges sharp enough to leave furrows, and suddenly I know. I know exactly who I am.
My name is Lia Johansen, and I was named for a prisoner of war. She lived in the Tiersten Internment Colony for two years, and when they negotiated the return of the prisoners, I was given her memories and sent back in her place.
And I am a genetically engineered human bomb.
Lia Johansen was created for only one purpose: to slip onto the strategically placed New Sol Space Station and explode. But her mission goes to hell when her clock malfunctions, freezing her countdown with just two minutes to go. With no Plan B, no memories of her past, and no identity besides a name stolen from a dead POW, Lia has no idea what to do next. Her life gets even more complicated when she meets Michael Sorenson, the real Lia’s childhood best friend.
Drawn to Michael and his family against her better judgment, Lia starts learning what it means to live and love, and to be human. It is only when her countdown clock begins sporadically losing time that she realizes even duds can still blow up. If she wants any chance at a future, she must find a way to unlock the secrets of her past and stop her clock. But as Lia digs into her origins, she begins to suspect there’s far more to her mission and to this war, than meets the eye. With the fate of not just a space station but an entire empire hanging in the balance, Lia races to find the truth before her time—literally—runs out.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published June 2, 2015
30 people are currently reading
1767 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Fortune
4 books73 followersMargaret Fortune wrote her first story at the age of six and has been writing ever since. She lives in Wisconsin. NOVA is her first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews
September 13, 2016
My name is Lia Johansen, and I was named for a prisoner of war. She lived in the Tiersten Internment Colony for two years, and when they negotiated the return of the prisoners, I was given her memories and sent back in her place.
And I am a genetically engineered human bomb.
Wow. I really, really liked this. Great beginning and terrific narrative--not to mention some scenes that'll make you clench your teeth with tension. My only quibbles: the romance wasn't that interesting to me, and we cycle through a lot of scenarios with what Lia is and Lia isn't. But the ending is exactly what I wanted, and I'm really excited to see what happens next in this world.
The audiobook narrator is fantastic--she does great voices, and her narration style is particularly great in the parts when she's counting down like a perfectly calm, unhurried, merciless clock. 3.5 stars
A review copy was provided by the publisher.
And I am a genetically engineered human bomb.
Wow. I really, really liked this. Great beginning and terrific narrative--not to mention some scenes that'll make you clench your teeth with tension. My only quibbles: the romance wasn't that interesting to me, and we cycle through a lot of scenarios with what Lia is and Lia isn't. But the ending is exactly what I wanted, and I'm really excited to see what happens next in this world.
The audiobook narrator is fantastic--she does great voices, and her narration style is particularly great in the parts when she's counting down like a perfectly calm, unhurried, merciless clock. 3.5 stars
A review copy was provided by the publisher.
November 30, 2015
There are two sides, two interstellar empires, neither especially better than the other. Corporations, really, fighting for resources and using their populations as they see fit. They are in conflict, but as a gesture of goodwill (or is it?) one side agrees to return 500 prisoners, civilians who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Among the 500 is Lia, an innocuous teenage girl with no family or particular skills. But Lia is not a refugee. She is a bomb.
I thought the starting concept of this story was great. I was really interested in Lia-the-bomb.
Then, she failed to explode and the middle of the book bogged down (middles often seem to sag, especially in YA) in teen angst and some romance. I do not get why the author and protagonist were so hung up on the idea that Michael would spot bomb-Lia behaving differently from his childhood friend Lia: she's 16 and he hasn't seen her since she was 9. People change. Simple.
I was pleasantly surprised that the book eventually picked up pace and introduced a number of new plot elements. These were much more interesting and I would have liked to spend more time on them instead of the feeeeelings section. They were even pretty original! 4 stars for plot, 3 for my actual reading enjoyment = 3.5 stars. Rounding down because I can't really give 4 stars to a book that I put down out of boredom and had to force myself to pick up again two weeks later. However, I may even read the sequel which I assume will be coming. I'm guessing with Teal as the main character.
I thought the starting concept of this story was great. I was really interested in Lia-the-bomb.
Then, she failed to explode and the middle of the book bogged down (middles often seem to sag, especially in YA) in teen angst and some romance. I do not get why the author and protagonist were so hung up on the idea that Michael would spot bomb-Lia behaving differently from his childhood friend Lia: she's 16 and he hasn't seen her since she was 9. People change. Simple.
I was pleasantly surprised that the book eventually picked up pace and introduced a number of new plot elements. These were much more interesting and I would have liked to spend more time on them instead of the feeeeelings section. They were even pretty original! 4 stars for plot, 3 for my actual reading enjoyment = 3.5 stars. Rounding down because I can't really give 4 stars to a book that I put down out of boredom and had to force myself to pick up again two weeks later. However, I may even read the sequel which I assume will be coming. I'm guessing with Teal as the main character.
October 18, 2024
Nova: A genuinely awesome concept... A truly disappointing book. I picked this book as a pair of science fiction to read and analyze for my MFA. So maybe that made EVEN more stuff stand out to me than normally would have.
From the beginning, there are inconsistencies with events and a lot of repeat reading; I'm assuming it was meant to establish behavior patterns, but did it need to take over 200 pages to reach any action?
Summary of action: Show up on the ship, have no idea who I am, meet Michael, not explode. Race Michael, flirt with Michael, and walk around the ship with Michael. Repeat all Michael's activities multiple times. I mean this, reading almost the exact same action over and over again. There were a few variables in there, but not a lot until around pg 220.
I had a tough time liking Lia because she was SO DUMB and picked up on ZERO ZERO ZERO repeated clues given by multiple people over and over again to where I wanted to yell at her. I get it; her mind is jacked up, but she would have these questions and pretend to worry about events, and then those things would have MAJOR indications and warnings, and she would not even acknowledge it and then be shocked, not understand how things happened a certain way.
End of the book: At this point, it was a blessing to humanity, and I am SO GLAD that the author decided to end the book in this fashion, although at this point, I was almost rooting for the Spectres... Only redeeming character: Teal. Hopefully, she will be a standout character in the rest of the series that I will probably never read.
In the end, there was SO MUCH you could do with this concept, but there were too many convoluted unfinished side stories that just muddied the water and made this one fall flat for me. 2 stars.
From the beginning, there are inconsistencies with events and a lot of repeat reading; I'm assuming it was meant to establish behavior patterns, but did it need to take over 200 pages to reach any action?
Summary of action: Show up on the ship, have no idea who I am, meet Michael, not explode. Race Michael, flirt with Michael, and walk around the ship with Michael. Repeat all Michael's activities multiple times. I mean this, reading almost the exact same action over and over again. There were a few variables in there, but not a lot until around pg 220.
I had a tough time liking Lia because she was SO DUMB and picked up on ZERO ZERO ZERO repeated clues given by multiple people over and over again to where I wanted to yell at her. I get it; her mind is jacked up, but she would have these questions and pretend to worry about events, and then those things would have MAJOR indications and warnings, and she would not even acknowledge it and then be shocked, not understand how things happened a certain way.
End of the book: At this point, it was a blessing to humanity, and I am SO GLAD that the author decided to end the book in this fashion, although at this point, I was almost rooting for the Spectres... Only redeeming character: Teal. Hopefully, she will be a standout character in the rest of the series that I will probably never read.
In the end, there was SO MUCH you could do with this concept, but there were too many convoluted unfinished side stories that just muddied the water and made this one fall flat for me. 2 stars.
June 11, 2015
I thought this book had the coolest premise:
*36:00:00*
The clock activates so suddenly in my mind, my head involuntarily jerks a bit to the side. The fog vanishes, dissipated in an instant as though it never was. Memories come slotting into place, their edges sharp enough to leave furrows, and suddenly I know. I know exactly who I am.
My name is Lia Johansen, and I was named for a prisoner of war. She lived in the Tiersten Internment Colony for two years, and when they negotiated the return of the prisoners, I was given her memories and sent back in her place.
And I am a genetically engineered human bomb.
Lia Johansen was created for only one purpose: to slip onto the strategically placed New Sol Space Station and explode. But her mission goes to hell when her clock malfunctions, freezing her countdown with just two minutes to go. With no Plan B, no memories of her past, and no identity besides a name stolen from a dead POW, Lia has no idea what to do next. Her life gets even more complicated when she meets Michael Sorenson, the real Lia’s childhood best friend.
Drawn to Michael and his family against her better judgment, Lia starts learning what it means to live and love, and to be human. It is only when her countdown clock begins sporadically losing time that she realizes even duds can still blow up. If she wants any chance at a future, she must find a way to unlock the secrets of her past and stop her clock. But as Lia digs into her origins, she begins to suspect there’s far more to her mission and to this war, than meets the eye. With the fate of not just a space station but an entire empire hanging in the balance, Lia races to find the truth before her time—literally—runs out.
And it starts out pretty awesome. Lia had been a prisoner of war, or so she thinks. Her memories are quite hazy – and then the clock starts its countdown. Lia is the bomb, at least that is what we think.
The clock activates so suddenly in my mind, my head involuntarily jerks a bit to the side. The fog vanishes, dissipated in an instant as though it never was. Memories come slotting into place, their edges sharp enough to leave furrows in my mind, and suddenly I know. I know exactly who I am.
My name is Lia Johansen, and I was named for a prisoner of war. She lived in the Tiersten Internment Colony for two years, and when they negotiated the return of the prisoners, I was given her memories and sent back in her place.
And I am a genetically engineered human bomb.
Her only motive is to immerse herself in this space station until it’s time for her to explode. But then her clock stops working with just two minutes to go. And as the blurb suggests – as “Bomb Lia” starts to learn more about her former colony and what’s happening at the space station, she starts to second-guess her original motive to kill everyone.
My first big frustration, and what turns into my ultimate dislike of this story is Lia. She is the bomb, using Lia’s body as the host. But the structure of this gets very wishy-washy fast. Sometimes Lia’s body remembers things of Lia’s past, sometimes she doesn’t. We are reminded time and time again that Lia isn’t really Lia
Should I feel bad for my part in his demise?
Perhaps Lia would. But I am not Lia.
I was cool with this. I liked that there is this foreign “thing” inside Lia’s body that has taken over. She can function enough to interact with people, including Michael, Lia’s childhood friend but she still acts a little strange. But then things get mushy. I felt like there needed to be more strict world building and development of Lia. The reader starts to question what Lia exactly is – is she really the bomb? Is she Lia’s clone? Is she something else? And I think it was too muddled. Even Lia starts questioning herself
My job is to further the war effort, not take revenge against one mean-spirited girl. To go Nova like that, rolling around on the floor with some thief, seems wrong somehow. Unworthy. Maybe it’s just as well I didn’t.
Then again, isn’t it better to go Nova in any way I can than to never go Nova at all? My mission seemed so simple once. How did it ever become so confused?
There was not enough structure of her character. Instead of being twisty and fun – it was frustrating and became boring. For all the drama at the start of this book, not a lot happens in the book. There are the predictable bad people who might be good and good people who might be bad. There is kind of a love interest that forms with Michael. The clock starts and stops and starts and stops.
I’ll be honest and say I skimmed the last third of the book. But I wanted to know the eventual outcome with the bomb. For me, it was a disappointing ending, but maybe others will be more satisfied.
Grade: D
*36:00:00*
The clock activates so suddenly in my mind, my head involuntarily jerks a bit to the side. The fog vanishes, dissipated in an instant as though it never was. Memories come slotting into place, their edges sharp enough to leave furrows, and suddenly I know. I know exactly who I am.
My name is Lia Johansen, and I was named for a prisoner of war. She lived in the Tiersten Internment Colony for two years, and when they negotiated the return of the prisoners, I was given her memories and sent back in her place.
And I am a genetically engineered human bomb.
Lia Johansen was created for only one purpose: to slip onto the strategically placed New Sol Space Station and explode. But her mission goes to hell when her clock malfunctions, freezing her countdown with just two minutes to go. With no Plan B, no memories of her past, and no identity besides a name stolen from a dead POW, Lia has no idea what to do next. Her life gets even more complicated when she meets Michael Sorenson, the real Lia’s childhood best friend.
Drawn to Michael and his family against her better judgment, Lia starts learning what it means to live and love, and to be human. It is only when her countdown clock begins sporadically losing time that she realizes even duds can still blow up. If she wants any chance at a future, she must find a way to unlock the secrets of her past and stop her clock. But as Lia digs into her origins, she begins to suspect there’s far more to her mission and to this war, than meets the eye. With the fate of not just a space station but an entire empire hanging in the balance, Lia races to find the truth before her time—literally—runs out.
And it starts out pretty awesome. Lia had been a prisoner of war, or so she thinks. Her memories are quite hazy – and then the clock starts its countdown. Lia is the bomb, at least that is what we think.
The clock activates so suddenly in my mind, my head involuntarily jerks a bit to the side. The fog vanishes, dissipated in an instant as though it never was. Memories come slotting into place, their edges sharp enough to leave furrows in my mind, and suddenly I know. I know exactly who I am.
My name is Lia Johansen, and I was named for a prisoner of war. She lived in the Tiersten Internment Colony for two years, and when they negotiated the return of the prisoners, I was given her memories and sent back in her place.
And I am a genetically engineered human bomb.
Her only motive is to immerse herself in this space station until it’s time for her to explode. But then her clock stops working with just two minutes to go. And as the blurb suggests – as “Bomb Lia” starts to learn more about her former colony and what’s happening at the space station, she starts to second-guess her original motive to kill everyone.
My first big frustration, and what turns into my ultimate dislike of this story is Lia. She is the bomb, using Lia’s body as the host. But the structure of this gets very wishy-washy fast. Sometimes Lia’s body remembers things of Lia’s past, sometimes she doesn’t. We are reminded time and time again that Lia isn’t really Lia
Should I feel bad for my part in his demise?
Perhaps Lia would. But I am not Lia.
I was cool with this. I liked that there is this foreign “thing” inside Lia’s body that has taken over. She can function enough to interact with people, including Michael, Lia’s childhood friend but she still acts a little strange. But then things get mushy. I felt like there needed to be more strict world building and development of Lia. The reader starts to question what Lia exactly is – is she really the bomb? Is she Lia’s clone? Is she something else? And I think it was too muddled. Even Lia starts questioning herself
My job is to further the war effort, not take revenge against one mean-spirited girl. To go Nova like that, rolling around on the floor with some thief, seems wrong somehow. Unworthy. Maybe it’s just as well I didn’t.
Then again, isn’t it better to go Nova in any way I can than to never go Nova at all? My mission seemed so simple once. How did it ever become so confused?
There was not enough structure of her character. Instead of being twisty and fun – it was frustrating and became boring. For all the drama at the start of this book, not a lot happens in the book. There are the predictable bad people who might be good and good people who might be bad. There is kind of a love interest that forms with Michael. The clock starts and stops and starts and stops.
I’ll be honest and say I skimmed the last third of the book. But I wanted to know the eventual outcome with the bomb. For me, it was a disappointing ending, but maybe others will be more satisfied.
Grade: D
March 5, 2016
My name is Lia Johansen, and I was named for a prisoner of war. She lived in the Tiersten Internment Colony for two years, and when they negotiated the return of the prisoners, I was given her memories and sent back in her place.
And I am a genetically engineered human bomb.
It is only once 16 year old Lia arrives on New Sol Station that these memories of what she truly is click into place and her internal clock starts counting down the time until she is set to explode: *36:00:00*
It is a great set up for a book. What follows is a bit of the expected melancholic existential crisis that occurs when Lia's clock malfunctions and she doesn't go Nova as expected, but there are many more layers to this story.
The first person narrative works really well as Lia progressively recovers her memories and discovers more about herself and the reason she was sent to New Sol Station. Her interactions with the other characters, both her peers and authority figures, felt very realistic and provide added depth.
The character development that dominates the middle section of the book pays off at the end when the story really takes off. I understand that this is to be the first of five books set in this world, and I can definitely see the potential.
And I am a genetically engineered human bomb.
It is only once 16 year old Lia arrives on New Sol Station that these memories of what she truly is click into place and her internal clock starts counting down the time until she is set to explode: *36:00:00*
It is a great set up for a book. What follows is a bit of the expected melancholic existential crisis that occurs when Lia's clock malfunctions and she doesn't go Nova as expected, but there are many more layers to this story.
The first person narrative works really well as Lia progressively recovers her memories and discovers more about herself and the reason she was sent to New Sol Station. Her interactions with the other characters, both her peers and authority figures, felt very realistic and provide added depth.
The character development that dominates the middle section of the book pays off at the end when the story really takes off. I understand that this is to be the first of five books set in this world, and I can definitely see the potential.
April 20, 2015
This is to be the first of a planned 5 book series, each following a different character. I loved this introductory to the world. The world-building is fairly sparse given that the main character is suffering from memory loss and most of the book is spent on the space station. But the set-up has me very excited to read more. The description of the station itself was very well done.
I believe that the book is being marketed as adult scifi, but I think that YA readers would love this book as well. It's told in first person with a 16 year old protagonist, there is a slight romantic storyline but the main focus of the story is about Lia trying to remember her past, what she is, and how to procede now that her mission has failed. Adult readers need not fear, Lia is not whiny, mopey, boy crazy, or stupid.
We don't spend a lot of time with the secondary characters, but Fortune manages to make them interesting in the short time that we are given with them.
I'm curious to learn more about Shar and Rowan, who I hope will appear in future books (Although I kind of wanted to punch Shar).
The book was fast paced and I loved the reveal of Lia's past. I felt that the last third of the book was rushed; but it also fit with the sense that time was running out for Lia. I wanted to see more of the Tellurians and New Earth and the prison planet, as well.
There are 2 scenes with eyeballs involved that creeped me out (eyeballs, in general, creep me out). Shudder. Not that the book is gory or scary in any way.
The book is the first in a series, but it does have a proper ending. Lia's story is concluded but there is a larger story left open. It was fast paced, exciting, and with an intriguing twist in the story that I am eager to read more about.
I received an ARC from a First Reads giveaway.
I believe that the book is being marketed as adult scifi, but I think that YA readers would love this book as well. It's told in first person with a 16 year old protagonist, there is a slight romantic storyline but the main focus of the story is about Lia trying to remember her past, what she is, and how to procede now that her mission has failed. Adult readers need not fear, Lia is not whiny, mopey, boy crazy, or stupid.
We don't spend a lot of time with the secondary characters, but Fortune manages to make them interesting in the short time that we are given with them.
I'm curious to learn more about Shar and Rowan, who I hope will appear in future books (Although I kind of wanted to punch Shar).
The book was fast paced and I loved the reveal of Lia's past. I felt that the last third of the book was rushed; but it also fit with the sense that time was running out for Lia. I wanted to see more of the Tellurians and New Earth and the prison planet, as well.
There are 2 scenes with eyeballs involved that creeped me out (eyeballs, in general, creep me out). Shudder. Not that the book is gory or scary in any way.
The book is the first in a series, but it does have a proper ending. Lia's story is concluded but there is a larger story left open. It was fast paced, exciting, and with an intriguing twist in the story that I am eager to read more about.
I received an ARC from a First Reads giveaway.
September 5, 2015
I like books set in space. I like YA. I like reading about aliens. NOVA had all these things but unfortunately it did not live up to its namesake. What started out as an intriguing and mysterious read:
My name is Lia Johansen, and I was named for a prisoner of war. She lived in the Tiersten Internment Colony for two years, and when they negotiated the return of the prisoners, I was given her memories and sent back in her place.
And I am a genetically engineered human bomb (p. 10).
Turned out to be a lot disappointing.
Lia Johnansen is masquerading as a sixteen-year-old girl who’s mission it is to blow up the New Sol Space Station. Lia’s not sure why she’s been chosen to blow up this station, but she is compelled to complete her mission. So when the countdown malfunctions Lia is left at loose ends and begins to question her ultimate purpose, which only becomes magnified when she meets Michael, a young boy who knew her when they were children. Should Lia complete her mission when she doesn’t even know why? How can she decide to go ahead now that she knows the people that she is going to harm?
For a book that draws much of its suspense from the mystery surrounding Lia’s true identity and real memories, I found that the narrative was strangely disconnected from any emotional response. Lia seemed to feel token emotions with regards to her situation, and for me it didn’t ring true to the circumstances. This emotional disconnect isn’t only true for Lia but the other people she interacts with. When the truth finally emerges and Lia shares her past and her mission with Michael, it’s strange how quickly he is to take everything she’s said at face value. It’s bizarre how quickly Lia convinces those around her to go ahead with her plan; it came across as too simplistic to be realistic.
While I think the themes of self-discovery and purpose will resonate with readers, the lack of dimension to the characters will be a difficult hurdle for many readers to overcome. This character-driven space drama is lacking in emotional meat. It’s an interesting concept, but the execution is off. Even simple atmospheric elements like the use of futuristic slang terms, “bull-slag” “you’re one in a galaxy” “you glitch”, came across as forced rather than contributing to the world created. Quite simply, NOVA did not work for me.
Originally reviewed at The Book Adventures.
My name is Lia Johansen, and I was named for a prisoner of war. She lived in the Tiersten Internment Colony for two years, and when they negotiated the return of the prisoners, I was given her memories and sent back in her place.
And I am a genetically engineered human bomb (p. 10).
Turned out to be a lot disappointing.
Lia Johnansen is masquerading as a sixteen-year-old girl who’s mission it is to blow up the New Sol Space Station. Lia’s not sure why she’s been chosen to blow up this station, but she is compelled to complete her mission. So when the countdown malfunctions Lia is left at loose ends and begins to question her ultimate purpose, which only becomes magnified when she meets Michael, a young boy who knew her when they were children. Should Lia complete her mission when she doesn’t even know why? How can she decide to go ahead now that she knows the people that she is going to harm?
For a book that draws much of its suspense from the mystery surrounding Lia’s true identity and real memories, I found that the narrative was strangely disconnected from any emotional response. Lia seemed to feel token emotions with regards to her situation, and for me it didn’t ring true to the circumstances. This emotional disconnect isn’t only true for Lia but the other people she interacts with. When the truth finally emerges and Lia shares her past and her mission with Michael, it’s strange how quickly he is to take everything she’s said at face value. It’s bizarre how quickly Lia convinces those around her to go ahead with her plan; it came across as too simplistic to be realistic.
While I think the themes of self-discovery and purpose will resonate with readers, the lack of dimension to the characters will be a difficult hurdle for many readers to overcome. This character-driven space drama is lacking in emotional meat. It’s an interesting concept, but the execution is off. Even simple atmospheric elements like the use of futuristic slang terms, “bull-slag” “you’re one in a galaxy” “you glitch”, came across as forced rather than contributing to the world created. Quite simply, NOVA did not work for me.
Originally reviewed at The Book Adventures.
December 7, 2020
Lia Johansen was created for only one purpose: to slip onto the strategically placed New Sol Space Station and explode. But her mission goes to hell when her clock malfunctions, freezing her countdown with just two minutes to go. With no Plan B, no memories of her past, and no identity besides a name stolen from a dead POW, Lia has no idea what to do next. Her life gets even more complicated when she meets Michael Sorenson, the real Lia’s childhood best friend.
Drawn to Michael and his family against her better judgment, Lia starts learning what it means to live and love, and to be human. It is only when her countdown clock begins sporadically losing time that she realizes even duds can still blow up. If she wants any chance at a future, she must find a way to unlock the secrets of her past and stop her clock. But as Lia digs into her origins, she begins to suspect there’s far more to her mission and to this war, than meets the eye. With the fate of not just a space station but an entire empire hanging in the balance, Lia races to find the truth before her time—literally—runs out.
When I picked this up I was expecting it to be a book written for adults, but was surprised to find that it's actually YA. I think I would have liked it better if it had been written for adults. While I liked the story and found it interesting, the book got a little bogged down with the teen relationship. There were also a couple of twists that I saw coming from the beginning. Despite those things I still liked the book. I liked the characters and was sad that some things had to end up the way they did, but I also get why those things ended up that way.
It seems like this is going to be a series, but I have no idea how many books will be in it (there are only two right now). It also seems like the characters in the second book are older, as several years look to have passed. Right now I do plan on reading the next book because I'm interested to see where the story goes next and how the characters are written as adults.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader.
Drawn to Michael and his family against her better judgment, Lia starts learning what it means to live and love, and to be human. It is only when her countdown clock begins sporadically losing time that she realizes even duds can still blow up. If she wants any chance at a future, she must find a way to unlock the secrets of her past and stop her clock. But as Lia digs into her origins, she begins to suspect there’s far more to her mission and to this war, than meets the eye. With the fate of not just a space station but an entire empire hanging in the balance, Lia races to find the truth before her time—literally—runs out.
When I picked this up I was expecting it to be a book written for adults, but was surprised to find that it's actually YA. I think I would have liked it better if it had been written for adults. While I liked the story and found it interesting, the book got a little bogged down with the teen relationship. There were also a couple of twists that I saw coming from the beginning. Despite those things I still liked the book. I liked the characters and was sad that some things had to end up the way they did, but I also get why those things ended up that way.
It seems like this is going to be a series, but I have no idea how many books will be in it (there are only two right now). It also seems like the characters in the second book are older, as several years look to have passed. Right now I do plan on reading the next book because I'm interested to see where the story goes next and how the characters are written as adults.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader.
June 2, 2015
OMG THIS BOOK!! I LOVED IT!! Check out my
FULL REVIEW HERE at Winterhaven Books!!
FULL REVIEW HERE at Winterhaven Books!!
November 17, 2016
Enjoyable, but angsty. Of course, this is a YA, so not unexpected. Totally unbelievable that a 13-year old could have initiated a station-wide system, though.
January 23, 2018
Audiobook
This book was mostly a young adult romance with a saboteur thrown in. It ended okay, maybe a little cliffhanger-ish. I'm not sure if the author is planning on writing more books regarding these characters. 3 stars
This book was mostly a young adult romance with a saboteur thrown in. It ended okay, maybe a little cliffhanger-ish. I'm not sure if the author is planning on writing more books regarding these characters. 3 stars
Read
September 28, 2015Lia Johansen is just one of hundreds of POWs who find themselves on New Sol Space Station. For most, they are just waiting for transportation back to their home worlds. For a few, like Lia, there’s no home to go to. But even in this small group, Lia stands alone. She doesn’t intend to return home. She never intends to leave the station. She is a genetically-engineered bomb, and she’s been sent to destroy New Sol and everyone on it. There are, of course, a few complications. First, her identity used to belong to someone else and that someone else was the childhood best friend of Michael Sorenson, who lives on the station with his sister and grandmother. Second, her timer malfunctions and when she’s set to go NOVA nothing happens. She begins to question her entire existence, fighting to regain her memories from before her arrival on the station. Once she does, she’ll need the help of those around her to do the right thing and, just maybe, save humanity. Did I mention that Lia is a teenager? And that she’s a badass? ‘Cause she is. This book definitely scratched my kick-ass teen heroine itch, and it did it in SPACE. That’s a perfect combo if I’ve seen one. — Cassandra Neace
from The Best Books We Read In August: http://bookriot.com/2015/08/31/riot-r...
from The Best Books We Read In August: http://bookriot.com/2015/08/31/riot-r...
May 25, 2016
Nova is startlingly good. A girl who has been a prisoner of war and is being released as part of a temporary peace deal, arrives on a space habitat. Lia realises that she is a façade, a clone of a similar girl, who has been produced solely to become a walking bomb. Her makers, the rebels, intend her to destroy the habitat. And that is what she means to do until she malfunctions - for how long?
This gripping read keeps throwing our emotions in the air, as we hold our breaths and then relax, only to gasp again. We can see parallels to today's brainwashed terrorists. Lia explores the space habitat, a town with farms, showing us a well-realised world peopled by all too human characters keen to get on with their lives. Every detail is used to wrap up the tale. You may not want to know how.
Write more!
This gripping read keeps throwing our emotions in the air, as we hold our breaths and then relax, only to gasp again. We can see parallels to today's brainwashed terrorists. Lia explores the space habitat, a town with farms, showing us a well-realised world peopled by all too human characters keen to get on with their lives. Every detail is used to wrap up the tale. You may not want to know how.
Write more!
February 23, 2017
Margaret Fortune's debut is fabulous fun! The first in the Spectre War series (currently projected to be 5 books, I believe) begins as one thing and morphs into a completely different kind of story. But what kind is something I'm not going to give away.
That said, I'm going to attempt to be somewhat vague in my review. So here goes:
Lia Johansen is a refugee with a secret. One of hundreds of POWs recently released as part of negotiations over a habitable planet called New Earth, Lia and her fellow prisoners are given temporary asylum on New Sol Station. But Lia isn't there for asylum. Lia isn't Lia at all. She's a walking bomb whose clock is counting down swiftly.
Until it's not. Ready to go nova and take the entire station with her, Lia is given a reprieve when she proves to be a dud. But the stay is only temporary and she has no idea how long it will take for the final minutes of her clock to count down.
Her mission is complicated by two factors beyond the bomb's fickleness: one, she has no memory of her mission. Two, the memories she does have are the real Lia's. And when one of Lia's friends turns out to be living on New Sol, going nova begins to seem like a bad idea.
We meet Lia as her transport is arriving at New Sol. Lia, the real Lia, was a citizen of Aurora Colony, one of many terraformed colonies throughout the expanse. When the colony fell, she and her family were taken to the Tiersten Internment Colony, as prisoners of the Tellurian Alliance, one of two governing factions that controls (and fights over) space.
See the Tellurians and the Celestians have been fighting for ages over everything. And while new colonies are being terraformed for human habitation, the discovery of a seemingly Earth-like planet perfect for habitation as is, is the center of the current conflict between the two groups. Unfortunately, Lia and the other refugees were caught at the center of the conflict until just recently. A tenuous treaty has been negotiated, and the POWs have been released.
But things aren't quite hunky dory, as evidenced by the fact that this Lia, our narrator Lia, is carrying a bomb meant to destroy New Sol!
Unfortunately, whatever plan Lia is part of has gone massively awry. And with no knowledge of what the plan actually is, Lia isn't sure she wants to continue carrying it out. Especially when she's taken under the wing of Lia's old friend from Aurora, Michael.
As her time on New Sol stretches out, Lia becomes close to Michael, even convincing herself that she can live some sort of life with an actual future.
Lia is an unreliable narrator in that she doesn't know her own story. Her internal battle between what she thinks is her purpose and what she actually wants is one that propels the story from start to finish and each new piece of information she discovers about herself and the world she lives in proves to complicate things further for her.
As her clock ticks down, the pacing of the story increases, leaving the reader wondering what fate Lia will choose and how this will affect the world we've come to know.
Nova is an excellent start to a series. It's the kind of book that has huge cross over potential - a teen narrator in an adult SF tale that definitely appeals to both audiences. But there's a massive and fabulous twist beyond all of that that really makes Nova fantastic.
That said, I'm going to attempt to be somewhat vague in my review. So here goes:
Lia Johansen is a refugee with a secret. One of hundreds of POWs recently released as part of negotiations over a habitable planet called New Earth, Lia and her fellow prisoners are given temporary asylum on New Sol Station. But Lia isn't there for asylum. Lia isn't Lia at all. She's a walking bomb whose clock is counting down swiftly.
Until it's not. Ready to go nova and take the entire station with her, Lia is given a reprieve when she proves to be a dud. But the stay is only temporary and she has no idea how long it will take for the final minutes of her clock to count down.
Her mission is complicated by two factors beyond the bomb's fickleness: one, she has no memory of her mission. Two, the memories she does have are the real Lia's. And when one of Lia's friends turns out to be living on New Sol, going nova begins to seem like a bad idea.
We meet Lia as her transport is arriving at New Sol. Lia, the real Lia, was a citizen of Aurora Colony, one of many terraformed colonies throughout the expanse. When the colony fell, she and her family were taken to the Tiersten Internment Colony, as prisoners of the Tellurian Alliance, one of two governing factions that controls (and fights over) space.
See the Tellurians and the Celestians have been fighting for ages over everything. And while new colonies are being terraformed for human habitation, the discovery of a seemingly Earth-like planet perfect for habitation as is, is the center of the current conflict between the two groups. Unfortunately, Lia and the other refugees were caught at the center of the conflict until just recently. A tenuous treaty has been negotiated, and the POWs have been released.
But things aren't quite hunky dory, as evidenced by the fact that this Lia, our narrator Lia, is carrying a bomb meant to destroy New Sol!
Unfortunately, whatever plan Lia is part of has gone massively awry. And with no knowledge of what the plan actually is, Lia isn't sure she wants to continue carrying it out. Especially when she's taken under the wing of Lia's old friend from Aurora, Michael.
As her time on New Sol stretches out, Lia becomes close to Michael, even convincing herself that she can live some sort of life with an actual future.
Lia is an unreliable narrator in that she doesn't know her own story. Her internal battle between what she thinks is her purpose and what she actually wants is one that propels the story from start to finish and each new piece of information she discovers about herself and the world she lives in proves to complicate things further for her.
As her clock ticks down, the pacing of the story increases, leaving the reader wondering what fate Lia will choose and how this will affect the world we've come to know.
Nova is an excellent start to a series. It's the kind of book that has huge cross over potential - a teen narrator in an adult SF tale that definitely appeals to both audiences. But there's a massive and fabulous twist beyond all of that that really makes Nova fantastic.
July 29, 2016
This was a very decent series opener. Mostly fast-paced besides a few slow-going portions. World-building was interesting/entertaining but not particularly fresh. Intergalactic politics, spaceships, etc. The best of it was the narrator, Lia, being a human bomb. There's a particularly cool scene where she has to rewire herself. The PsyCorps was also a neat touch. For some reason I kept imagining the station as the Citadel from Mass Effect....
Considering the rest of the series will follow other characters introduced in this book, I'm curious as to who will be our next narrator. Plenty of intriguing options to choose from. I'm hoping the epilogue is a lead-in to it being Teal, my favorite supporting character!
Oh! And definite crossover appeal to teens, even though it doesn't seem to be a teen title.
Considering the rest of the series will follow other characters introduced in this book, I'm curious as to who will be our next narrator. Plenty of intriguing options to choose from. I'm hoping the epilogue is a lead-in to it being Teal, my favorite supporting character!
Oh! And definite crossover appeal to teens, even though it doesn't seem to be a teen title.
June 27, 2015
I'm rounding up a bit, but it isn't hard to do.
This book is a beautiful example of first-person present-tense POV done right. We are quickly drawn into Lia's unique situation -- or is she Lia? Who is she? Does she know who she is? Her own guesses on her identity evolve, as she peels away one layer of mystery after another. We endure, with her, the same process where it comes to her mission and her alternatives. The secondary characters are also well drawn, and the world-building is solid.
As I approached the climax, I wondered whether we'd see an all-wrapped-up, overly neat happy ending, or some devastating downer. (I've been watching too much Game of Thrones.) The author found a wonderfully appropriate way to provide neither.
This book is a beautiful example of first-person present-tense POV done right. We are quickly drawn into Lia's unique situation -- or is she Lia? Who is she? Does she know who she is? Her own guesses on her identity evolve, as she peels away one layer of mystery after another. We endure, with her, the same process where it comes to her mission and her alternatives. The secondary characters are also well drawn, and the world-building is solid.
As I approached the climax, I wondered whether we'd see an all-wrapped-up, overly neat happy ending, or some devastating downer. (I've been watching too much Game of Thrones.) The author found a wonderfully appropriate way to provide neither.
April 20, 2015
First of all, I want to thank Goodreads for giving me the opportunity to win this book. This is not my usual type of reading (not a sci-fi person), but this was really good. Lia is most unusual and being genetically engineered and yet wanting to know her human side was a different concept and meeting Michael and doing so was also unique. So I learned something about myself thru this book; I need to branch out more in my selection of books! This author should go a long way as a writer.
April 17, 2015
Wow, what a ride! I couldn't stop reading...... I may just have a new favorite author. If you enjoy sci fi and people, like to be attracted to the characters but want to be kept guessing until just about the very last moment - this book is for you!
June 17, 2017
I received a copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads program. It was OK; the problem was that, for a book about a girl who is actually a bomb who may go off at any time, it was pretty lacking in suspense. It is possible that a younger (and less widely-read) reader might enjoy it more than I did...as a long-time mystery fan, every little detail that would later come to play a role in the resolution of the story seemed to stick out like it had been printed in red ink. There were no real surprises or twists that I missed along the way. All of the main character's sudden recoveries of parts of her lost memory were perfectly conveniently timed to advance the plot just enough to get to the next memory recovery. All in all, the plotting seemed pretty stiff and clunky, and I'm not motivated to continue with the series.
July 26, 2018
This was on its way to being a solid 3 stars...a straightforward, enjoyable, easy-to-read sci fi adventure...with elements of Ben Bova, and elements of the TV series "Babylon 5" coming to mind as I read through its pages. And then, the twist: a twist that turned everything on its ear, and drove the novel up another notch in imaginative quality. Ironically, the "Babylon 5" influence grew sharper after this twist, but I didn't mind, as it all ends in a most satisfying and glorious manner.
Read
April 2, 2018I'm dnfing this one for now. Great premise but really gets bogged down with poor characterization and a annoying oh poor me attitude from the mc. I skipped to the end and saw that it def does pick up but then I read spoilers for Book 2 and it doesn't seem like a series I want to continue. SO may come back to it, but probably not.
February 2, 2016
Bright star.
Another entry in my quest for good SF for YA readers. Occasional quest, I should say - it's not the be all and end all of my reading. And not everything I read ends up with a review.
So I was at WorldCon in Spokane a few weeks back, and at the Golden Duck awards I heard a great definition of YA, which was "teenage protagonists making adult decisions". Brilliant definition, IMHO. This book certainly has that, and the science is right in there. But is it - at the core - a good story?
The cover blurb tells you straight up that the classic female teen protagonist, Lia, discovers that she's a human bomb, set to go off in 36 hours. Good hook. And then it also tells you that the countdown stops. And that it starts up again, but intermittently. It's a great device for controlling the tension, and the author makes extremely good use of it. The author really does play with your head, making you think it's this kind of novel, but then, no, it's that kind of novel. And you don't resent it, because it's well done; on the whole you can see the seeds for the twist in hindsight. When you reach the end, you see the pattern to the whole. It's only in the middle that you feel like an ant trying to make sense of a quilt.
So what do those elements look like?
Well, there's the bomb. It could be simply a race against time to defuse it, and save the space station. But is Lia a heroine or a villain - or put another way, is she on the right side of the war that's raging, or on the wrong side? So maybe the right thing is for the bomb to go off, maybe not. In that context, you can work out that there are probably only a handful of outcomes to the novel. The bomb doesn't go off, or it goes off. In the latter case, nobody dies (because the bomb has been taken out of Lia), or Lia alone dies (because she's taken herself away from the station), or everybody on the station dies. So the question becomes which one, and you're kept guessing right until the end. It's really well done.
Then there's Lia. She starts off as a barely self-aware, cyborg-like personality. She's quite OK with the idea of blowing herself to smithereens as part of the covert war. So where's the story in that? Not surprisingly, Lia gets awakened, and after a while she realises she doesn't want to blow anybody up. You, the reader, are in Lia's head through all of this, and you engage with her. Being in her head, you start to realise that her mind has been tampered with, which is another device that both feeds the tension, and sources fresh twists as protective layers of her mind fall away. You like Lia, and you learn to trust her judgement, that she won't fail to make the right decision when the crunch finally comes. The question is, what will the crunch finally look like?
Then there's the rest of the cast, particularly Michael, Lia's love interest, and Teal, Michael's protective young sister. Michael is Lia's reason to live, and is on the receiving end of a lot of anguish, as Lia variously lies to him (to protect him when she thinks she'll have to die) and opens up to him (when she thinks that she might not have to die). Teal is a very believable protector for Michael, and is arguably better drawn than Michael, with a motivational and emotional complexity that makes you look forward to her contributions.
There's the war. Which side is right? Or are they both wrong? There are peace negotiations happening, so why do Lia's superiors want to re-ignite the war with an act of terrorism?
There are mysteries about Lia's origin, her family, and their allegiances, but no details there, or any other story elements either, as that would be a spoiler.
It is a good story, with mystery, thrills, romance, false trails, believable characters with plausible motivations. A good supporting cast of variously sympathetic and flawed people.
As I said earlier, there were never that many possible endings for the story, and the ending that Margaret Fortune chose is a satisfying one. You do get a glimpse, just before the end, and that's as it should be. It's a necessary part of this journey.
If this book doesn't pick up an award or two, I shall be surprised. It's certainly a strong contender for the next Hal Clement award.
Another entry in my quest for good SF for YA readers. Occasional quest, I should say - it's not the be all and end all of my reading. And not everything I read ends up with a review.
So I was at WorldCon in Spokane a few weeks back, and at the Golden Duck awards I heard a great definition of YA, which was "teenage protagonists making adult decisions". Brilliant definition, IMHO. This book certainly has that, and the science is right in there. But is it - at the core - a good story?
The cover blurb tells you straight up that the classic female teen protagonist, Lia, discovers that she's a human bomb, set to go off in 36 hours. Good hook. And then it also tells you that the countdown stops. And that it starts up again, but intermittently. It's a great device for controlling the tension, and the author makes extremely good use of it. The author really does play with your head, making you think it's this kind of novel, but then, no, it's that kind of novel. And you don't resent it, because it's well done; on the whole you can see the seeds for the twist in hindsight. When you reach the end, you see the pattern to the whole. It's only in the middle that you feel like an ant trying to make sense of a quilt.
So what do those elements look like?
Well, there's the bomb. It could be simply a race against time to defuse it, and save the space station. But is Lia a heroine or a villain - or put another way, is she on the right side of the war that's raging, or on the wrong side? So maybe the right thing is for the bomb to go off, maybe not. In that context, you can work out that there are probably only a handful of outcomes to the novel. The bomb doesn't go off, or it goes off. In the latter case, nobody dies (because the bomb has been taken out of Lia), or Lia alone dies (because she's taken herself away from the station), or everybody on the station dies. So the question becomes which one, and you're kept guessing right until the end. It's really well done.
Then there's Lia. She starts off as a barely self-aware, cyborg-like personality. She's quite OK with the idea of blowing herself to smithereens as part of the covert war. So where's the story in that? Not surprisingly, Lia gets awakened, and after a while she realises she doesn't want to blow anybody up. You, the reader, are in Lia's head through all of this, and you engage with her. Being in her head, you start to realise that her mind has been tampered with, which is another device that both feeds the tension, and sources fresh twists as protective layers of her mind fall away. You like Lia, and you learn to trust her judgement, that she won't fail to make the right decision when the crunch finally comes. The question is, what will the crunch finally look like?
Then there's the rest of the cast, particularly Michael, Lia's love interest, and Teal, Michael's protective young sister. Michael is Lia's reason to live, and is on the receiving end of a lot of anguish, as Lia variously lies to him (to protect him when she thinks she'll have to die) and opens up to him (when she thinks that she might not have to die). Teal is a very believable protector for Michael, and is arguably better drawn than Michael, with a motivational and emotional complexity that makes you look forward to her contributions.
There's the war. Which side is right? Or are they both wrong? There are peace negotiations happening, so why do Lia's superiors want to re-ignite the war with an act of terrorism?
There are mysteries about Lia's origin, her family, and their allegiances, but no details there, or any other story elements either, as that would be a spoiler.
It is a good story, with mystery, thrills, romance, false trails, believable characters with plausible motivations. A good supporting cast of variously sympathetic and flawed people.
As I said earlier, there were never that many possible endings for the story, and the ending that Margaret Fortune chose is a satisfying one. You do get a glimpse, just before the end, and that's as it should be. It's a necessary part of this journey.
If this book doesn't pick up an award or two, I shall be surprised. It's certainly a strong contender for the next Hal Clement award.
February 4, 2018
3.5 Stars
Wow, okay, I just finished the book and the ending has left me both angry yet satisfied LOL.
Let me get through the nit-picks first, because honestly, that's all I have, this book was /rather/ solid:
Nit-Pick #1
One of my problems with this book was the awkward forced futuristic slang. I understand the desire and interest in changing the language spoken, especially by the younger crowd, in a society in the far off future, but what this author does is no different than how every other author I've seen it does: make crap up with no real purpose behind it.
Here are some examples of the slang:
"sat" = satisfied
"seal your airlock" = shut up
"neg" = negative
Language does naturally change with time, and I like that authors try to incorporate that into their books, however, it's only meaningful if the author does actual research on the natural evolution of language. The idea is to put the audience in the future of a teenager's world, however all it does, whenever one of the slang terms comes up, is take me out of the book and remind me of the now. These cheap ways of inserting slang feels lazy, especially if it's all just shortening actual words we still use or changing a word or two in a current slang. "Seal your airlock" is basically "shut your pie-hole."
Slang tends to be a build up of new words or acrynyms of a phrase. This could be learned in two seconds if the author took the time to type in a quick Google search about slang and its evolution in language. Given the fact that the slang in this book is essentially a butchered version of modern English is a sad attempt at slang, it feels like the author didn't want to either put in the effort or have to deal with coming up with their own words, having to describe them, as well as making sure the audience sees them used enough to remember them. /Had/ she done that, the world would've felt all the more authentic and the characters all the more real, instead of me always remembering that it's an adult trying to write what she thinks teenagers sound like.
Thankfully the majority of it is towards the beginning of the novel and slips more in the background, for the most part, as the book went on.
Nit-Pick #2
It was a little confusing for the whole bit a third of the way through the book. If that was intended as a minor "twist" (for lack of a better word), I feel like the initial explanations could have made that more clear. (Unless it's just a fault on my part for not understanding something, I don't know xD) It just stood out as kind of awkward to sit through Lia's whole spiel about that. I guess I'm just not understanding what difference it makes? It's made out to be a rather big deal for the main character. Perhaps because it's not deeply explained enough, it didn't hit me as hard? I don't know, that whole thing just left me kind of lost and felt out of place.
And the whole "what am I" throughout the book in general did get rather repetative.
To be fair, the ending where was not surprising.
Nit-Pick #3
Not crying. It seems like every single character goes out of their way, especially the main character, to avoid crying. Get upset to a point, but once you feel those tears coming, oh no you don't! It probably wouldn't have been so bothersome if it wasn't worded the same way every time, it just felt repetative. Instead of perhaps portraying the /reasons/ to not cry (to help give off some of the character's personality), it was just "feel tears come? stop everything, don't cry. Okay good." God forbid one tear gets loose. ("Spoiler" There are rare occassions where a single tear gets REALLY threatening, if not BREACHES the ducts.) (Sorry for sarcasm, it just feels so silly!)
Nit-Pick #4
The slow middle. I've seen this mentioned in other reviews on this book, so it helped to bring down my expectations, but still, it does drag in the center. It contrasts greatly against the ending, in perhaps not the /best/ of ways, since the ending happens VERY fast. Though it's still rather believeable pace wise, just the sudden switch was a /bit/ jarring. A lot of information was revealed, one after the other, and it was kind of a lot to take in so quickly. I had to pause every now and again to make sure I was keeping up with what was being explained.
Nit-Pick #5
The romance and the Kind of goes along with the slow middle bit, as this was mainly why. (Mix that with "what am I" and you have the middle section.)
//End of Nit-Picks
Seriously, that's mostly it. The book did a very good job at building up the setting and universe, and while some of the reveals/twists weren't shocking, I'm not really sure how you'd go about improving them. For what they were, I think she did a good job.
To be honest, the ending felt like straight out of a Star Trek sort of deal, which was pretty funny. (Being a bit of an ST fan, it reminded me of quite a few things. Can't really say what without spoilers. Let's just say if you've seen TNG, you'll feel that vibe ;)) COUGHCOUGH Not in a bad way, it kind of made it more fun. xD
The description of OW MY HEART. GURL, JUST RIP IT OUT WHY DON'T YOU. (But seriously, I /might/ have shed a tear or two. #NoShame [unlike the characters of this book LOL #ImNeverLettingThatGo #ItsASillyDetail #WhyIsCryingBad #LetCharactersFeelEmotions #EmotionsArentTheEnemy])
I also loved that It really helped build some tension and got me excited to see how the situation would play out.
That ending, URGH, I have mixed feelings over. I don't want to give it away, but UGHGUHG. It's difficult to describe my emotions right now, haha. Like I said, both angry yet satisfied. I would say it's definitely more positive than negative, for how I feel about it though. But wow, I can't recall another book that's made me so frustratingly fine with an ending. It's rather humorous.
I recommend this though. I'd say fight through the middle if you're struggling, the ending is worth reading. I could be persuaded to pick up the sequel. :)
Wow, okay, I just finished the book and the ending has left me both angry yet satisfied LOL.
Let me get through the nit-picks first, because honestly, that's all I have, this book was /rather/ solid:
Nit-Pick #1
One of my problems with this book was the awkward forced futuristic slang. I understand the desire and interest in changing the language spoken, especially by the younger crowd, in a society in the far off future, but what this author does is no different than how every other author I've seen it does: make crap up with no real purpose behind it.
Here are some examples of the slang:
"sat" = satisfied
"seal your airlock" = shut up
"neg" = negative
Language does naturally change with time, and I like that authors try to incorporate that into their books, however, it's only meaningful if the author does actual research on the natural evolution of language. The idea is to put the audience in the future of a teenager's world, however all it does, whenever one of the slang terms comes up, is take me out of the book and remind me of the now. These cheap ways of inserting slang feels lazy, especially if it's all just shortening actual words we still use or changing a word or two in a current slang. "Seal your airlock" is basically "shut your pie-hole."
Slang tends to be a build up of new words or acrynyms of a phrase. This could be learned in two seconds if the author took the time to type in a quick Google search about slang and its evolution in language. Given the fact that the slang in this book is essentially a butchered version of modern English is a sad attempt at slang, it feels like the author didn't want to either put in the effort or have to deal with coming up with their own words, having to describe them, as well as making sure the audience sees them used enough to remember them. /Had/ she done that, the world would've felt all the more authentic and the characters all the more real, instead of me always remembering that it's an adult trying to write what she thinks teenagers sound like.
Thankfully the majority of it is towards the beginning of the novel and slips more in the background, for the most part, as the book went on.
Nit-Pick #2
It was a little confusing for the whole bit a third of the way through the book. If that was intended as a minor "twist" (for lack of a better word), I feel like the initial explanations could have made that more clear. (Unless it's just a fault on my part for not understanding something, I don't know xD) It just stood out as kind of awkward to sit through Lia's whole spiel about that. I guess I'm just not understanding what difference it makes? It's made out to be a rather big deal for the main character. Perhaps because it's not deeply explained enough, it didn't hit me as hard? I don't know, that whole thing just left me kind of lost and felt out of place.
And the whole "what am I" throughout the book in general did get rather repetative.
To be fair, the ending where was not surprising.
Nit-Pick #3
Not crying. It seems like every single character goes out of their way, especially the main character, to avoid crying. Get upset to a point, but once you feel those tears coming, oh no you don't! It probably wouldn't have been so bothersome if it wasn't worded the same way every time, it just felt repetative. Instead of perhaps portraying the /reasons/ to not cry (to help give off some of the character's personality), it was just "feel tears come? stop everything, don't cry. Okay good." God forbid one tear gets loose. ("Spoiler" There are rare occassions where a single tear gets REALLY threatening, if not BREACHES the ducts.) (Sorry for sarcasm, it just feels so silly!)
Nit-Pick #4
The slow middle. I've seen this mentioned in other reviews on this book, so it helped to bring down my expectations, but still, it does drag in the center. It contrasts greatly against the ending, in perhaps not the /best/ of ways, since the ending happens VERY fast. Though it's still rather believeable pace wise, just the sudden switch was a /bit/ jarring. A lot of information was revealed, one after the other, and it was kind of a lot to take in so quickly. I had to pause every now and again to make sure I was keeping up with what was being explained.
Nit-Pick #5
The romance and the Kind of goes along with the slow middle bit, as this was mainly why. (Mix that with "what am I" and you have the middle section.)
//End of Nit-Picks
Seriously, that's mostly it. The book did a very good job at building up the setting and universe, and while some of the reveals/twists weren't shocking, I'm not really sure how you'd go about improving them. For what they were, I think she did a good job.
To be honest, the ending felt like straight out of a Star Trek sort of deal, which was pretty funny. (Being a bit of an ST fan, it reminded me of quite a few things. Can't really say what without spoilers. Let's just say if you've seen TNG, you'll feel that vibe ;)) COUGHCOUGH Not in a bad way, it kind of made it more fun. xD
The description of OW MY HEART. GURL, JUST RIP IT OUT WHY DON'T YOU. (But seriously, I /might/ have shed a tear or two. #NoShame [unlike the characters of this book LOL #ImNeverLettingThatGo #ItsASillyDetail #WhyIsCryingBad #LetCharactersFeelEmotions #EmotionsArentTheEnemy])
I also loved that It really helped build some tension and got me excited to see how the situation would play out.
That ending, URGH, I have mixed feelings over. I don't want to give it away, but UGHGUHG. It's difficult to describe my emotions right now, haha. Like I said, both angry yet satisfied. I would say it's definitely more positive than negative, for how I feel about it though. But wow, I can't recall another book that's made me so frustratingly fine with an ending. It's rather humorous.
I recommend this though. I'd say fight through the middle if you're struggling, the ending is worth reading. I could be persuaded to pick up the sequel. :)
September 26, 2015
Nova was not at all what I expected. As I started reading it was more like a YA book with a 16 year old main character. 2/3 of the way through it took an unexpected twist.
That twist made Lia’s mission something entirely different. Then there was a discovery that seemed to lead to a much different ending. I was surprised. Even though the entire book had been leading up to it I did not expect it to end as it did.
What I liked was that unexpected twist that made this an entirely different story from what it seemed at the beginning. I did find the story a little slow at the beginning. Lia spends a lot of time trying to remember who and what she is. While it was part of the build up to the twist it really was not as much of a mystery to me, the reader, as it was to Lia.
There were two very interesting secondary characters who were important to the story and Lia. Michael and his sister Teal are the two Lia interacts with the most and in the end the two who help her complete her mission.
Nova is a good addition to the Science Fiction world. Pick it up and see if you are as surprised as I was to see why Lia was a human bomb.
Nova is book one in a new series. It will be interesting to see where the story goes from here. Lia and her mission are just the beginning. I will be looking for the next book in the series to see what happens next.
Daw published Nova by Margaret Fortune in 2015.
June 12, 2015
I totally did not see that coming!
The girl with Lia's identify is a human bomb, meant to blow up The New Sol space station. Or is she? Then her countdown clock malfunctions and makes her a dud.
The story line held my interest the whole way. I felt an quick bond with Lia as she slowly pieces together her identity and goes from uncaring bomb to real girl with attachments and feelings. The reveal near the ending was so unexpected, yet made so much sense. I can't really say much about the end because there are so many spoilers.
I really look forward to the rest of the series to see where it goes from here.
The girl with Lia's identify is a human bomb, meant to blow up The New Sol space station. Or is she? Then her countdown clock malfunctions and makes her a dud.
The story line held my interest the whole way. I felt an quick bond with Lia as she slowly pieces together her identity and goes from uncaring bomb to real girl with attachments and feelings. The reveal near the ending was so unexpected, yet made so much sense. I can't really say much about the end because there are so many spoilers.
I really look forward to the rest of the series to see where it goes from here.
July 20, 2015
A teenage refugee discovers a countdown timer in her head.
The plot here was compelling enough to keep me going, but overall, the book was average. What I call Progress Bars of Suspense (and TV Tropes calls Race Against the Clock) was one of the main plot devices.
There was also the teen romance, and I have to give some props here for mostly avoiding the love triangle cliché. I say 'mostly' because the protective sister does take on a couple roles from one of the points of your typical love triangle.
The plot here was compelling enough to keep me going, but overall, the book was average. What I call Progress Bars of Suspense (and TV Tropes calls Race Against the Clock) was one of the main plot devices.
There was also the teen romance, and I have to give some props here for mostly avoiding the love triangle cliché. I say 'mostly' because the protective sister does take on a couple roles from one of the points of your typical love triangle.
April 20, 2015
I won a copy for free through Goodreads First Reads.
I loved this book. It is an absolutely amazing opening to the series. The book has a great cast of characters, especially Lia Johansen who is a human bomb, and great secondary characters. The plot is fantastic, without getting into spoiler territory let’s just say there is much more going on then it seems at the beginning. I will be very eagerly awaiting the second book in the series, and I highly recommend the book to everyone.
I loved this book. It is an absolutely amazing opening to the series. The book has a great cast of characters, especially Lia Johansen who is a human bomb, and great secondary characters. The plot is fantastic, without getting into spoiler territory let’s just say there is much more going on then it seems at the beginning. I will be very eagerly awaiting the second book in the series, and I highly recommend the book to everyone.
April 3, 2022
Won paperback in a Goodreads Giveaway.
Most of my Goodreads giveaways wins were bombs. The main character in this book WAS a bomb. A genetically engineered human bomb! Whoa! I really liked this one and I will definitely be reading the sequel! The book was very engrossing, as Lia struggles with her identity and the life she's thrown into on the space station. She discovers a lot along the way to finding out why she's a bomb. Very enjoyable read. I picked this for SciFi June Readathon.
Most of my Goodreads giveaways wins were bombs. The main character in this book WAS a bomb. A genetically engineered human bomb! Whoa! I really liked this one and I will definitely be reading the sequel! The book was very engrossing, as Lia struggles with her identity and the life she's thrown into on the space station. She discovers a lot along the way to finding out why she's a bomb. Very enjoyable read. I picked this for SciFi June Readathon.
June 12, 2015
Great YA novel with twists and a very unique premise. The development of Lia is fascinating with a climactic and beautifully written ending. Seriously, the last chapter is Fortune's best work.
I'm looking forward to the next novels in the series to see how she develops the characters and plot further. Great read!
I'm looking forward to the next novels in the series to see how she develops the characters and plot further. Great read!
April 21, 2015
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
The premise of this book intrigued me, so I was very excited to get an advanced copy. The book takes a unique vision of the future and kept me guessing throughout. I am definitely going to recommend this to my fellow sci-fi loving friends!
The premise of this book intrigued me, so I was very excited to get an advanced copy. The book takes a unique vision of the future and kept me guessing throughout. I am definitely going to recommend this to my fellow sci-fi loving friends!
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