The Baba Yaga

Weird Space #3

by Eric Brown, Una McCormack

The growing threat of the dimension-invading Weird has driven the Expansion government to outright paranoia. Mandatory telepathic testing is introduced, and the colony Braun’s World – following reports of a new Weird portal opening – is destroyed from orbit, at an unimaginable cost in lives.

Delia Walker, a senior analyst in the Expansion’s intelligence bureau and a holdout of the pragmatic old guard, protests the oppressive new policies and is drummed out. Sure there’s a better way, she charters the decrepit freighter the Baba Yaga and heads into the lawless “Satan’s Reach,” following rumours of a world where humans and the Weird live peacefully side by side.

Hunted by the Bureau, Walker, her pilot Yershov, and Failt – a Vetch child stowaway, fleeing slavery – will uncover secrets about both the Weird and the Expansion; secrets that could prevent catastrophic war...

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

332 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Eric Brown was a British science fiction author and Guardian critic.

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weird Space really is a fascinating universe. The Baba Yaga is an enjoyable contribution to its unfolding - the final third is particularly strong. 3.5-4 stars.

[Mark Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a sucker for a space opera. I totally dig dystopian fiction. I love to root for the underdog who defies an all-powerful over-reaching government. Weird Space: The Baba Yaga has all these and an extra long title to boot.

The story reminds me a little bit of Star Trek, but more gritty, perhaps akin to Joss Whedon’s Firefly. We can all identify with the character of privilege giving it all up in search of the truth.

At no point in this story did I feel “removed” from it. There were no great leaps of faith or complicated tech that had to be figured out. It’s just a straightforward action adventure in the sci-fi genre. I could easily see this as a limited-run television show and would happily watch it.

Weird Space: The Baba Yaga is a good sci-fi read with a funny name. I was unsure about it when I saw it on NetGalley, but I’m glad I took a chance on it.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Baba Yaga by Una McCormack and Eric Brown is the third novel in the Weird Space series. A standalone space adventure, The Baba Yaga tells the story of an ex-intelligence analyst, Delia Walker, and her quest for peace in a war torn galaxy. This review was written in anticipation of The Baba Yaga's follow-up novel, The Star of the Sea (10/25/2016).

The inner worlds - part of an empire named the Expansion - are threatened by an inhuman alien scourge known as the Weird. In the wake of several attacks on border planets by a superior foe, the Expansion's fleet intelligence is forced to decide between a fruitless campaign of war or an attempt to make peace with an incommunicable race of horrors. Situations become tense when the heavily populated Braun's World is attacked. Brutal decisions are made and the fate of all of the Expansion will be reshaped by the events that follow.

Senior analyst Delia Walker, already on unstable ground due to her desire to see peace between the warring races, discovers that she's pregnant. Through an act of betrayal, her pregnancy is revealed to her higher ups and she's summarily removed from the intelligence service. Without a purpose, the middle aged ex-spook decides to follow rumors of a world of co-existence between the Weird and humans.

On-board the dilapidated Baba Yaga, Walker seeks to prove her beliefs and undertake a mission that may change everything. Walker's journey will take her through the lawless frontier of space known as Satan's Reach.

*

Walker's story is action packed and never slows down, unfolding more like a space adventure than a traditional space opera. It also features some interesting secondary characters such as the young mother, Maria, with her small daughter Jenny, and the elusive ex-slave smuggling priest Hayes. Expect plenty of twists along the way, including a run in with a mind controlling pimp and other deadly Reach sociopaths.

The locations and character descriptions are all well written and serve to immerse the reader in the Weird Space universe. The smog laden descriptions of the mining planet of Shard's World and the Christian reliquaries in a strange church on Shuloma Station are just some of interesting places you'll encounter. McCormack and Brown paint a compelling picture of Satan's Reach and the Expansion.

Unfortunately The Baba Yaga rarely tackles larger issues and its characters fail to think critically about the world around them. The reason for their apathy is justified: the characters seem to be designed to embody the lawless and morally gray setting in which they exist. While this makes for a dark story, I couldn't help but think that many of the characters lacked depth.

Walker's personal growth develops as the story unfolds in a predicable way. Her maternal instincts - central to the plot of The Baba Yaga - seem forced and not very complex. Rarely does she reflect on her past. Still, with a personality that many of the characters find disagreeable, Walker fits the setting and story well.

The formula falls apart with some of the secondary characters. The Jar Jar speaking Gollum-like Failt is the story's token Vetch, a race of Cthulhu-looking entities you'll rarely encounter. Repeatedly described as acting like a "dog" with "docile eyes," I couldn't help but imagine Failt as idiotic. His purpose is simple: to remind readers of Walker's newfound motherly qualities. That's sad because could have been used to tell the reader more about the Vetch.

Mark Kinsella is the only character I really didn't like. Mark is the ex-lover of Delia Walker. He's extremely patronizing (the placating "yes sweetheart" sort), generally uncaring, and slow on the uptake (for an intelligence officer). Mark is given no significant depth. His backstory and reasons for being passive aggressive are never fully explored. Kinsella is primarily used as a plot device and as a reminder of the novel's themes (see below).

Some people's bodies had never really been their own to dispose of as they wanted. They had always been something to be policed and controlled.

Less obvious themes include sexism, a woman's control over their own body, and child sanctity. Yershov - an important character - repeatedly calls Walker a "stupid woman" and "fucking bitch." The Vetch child Failt asks why Walker is on a quest and not with her "famblee," as if it were common in this cosmos to think of women only in that role. He's always portrayed in a warm and loving light. An emotionally cold psychiatrist, Larson, expresses her irritation with being called "lady" by Yershov. Even the aforementioned pimp, Springer, lords over his working girl with supernatural dominance.

Incendiary comments and the threat of violence against women is real in Weird Space #3. While those topics are interesting, I wish the authors explored them deeper instead of dropping so many off-hand hints. Those hints are relentless in their occurrence throughout the novel.

Do the pros outweigh the cons? That's up to you and your taste in science fiction. Walker's badass personality, her deep maternal feelings (however forced), and her ability to overcome adversity all make her worth getting to know. For all its faults, The Baba Yaga is a suspenseful story that's worth checking out if you're into space action novels. (Edge 3.4/Goodreads 3)

[Gordon Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! Set far in the future at a time when humans have settled much of the galaxy, the action occurs at a time when the first human/alien war has ended with a tenuous peace between humans and vetches because both races have a terrible, common enemy - the Weird. These monstrous aliens infect foes with brain parasites to keep them calm and tractible until it it time for the Weird to eat them as we butcher and eat other animals.

In order to foster support for a hawkish faction among the human government, a rumour of a Weird invasion of one of the human planets is begun. In order to stop the supposed spread of the Weird parasites, the faction secretly seals off Braun's World and murders everyone there but for a young couple who manage to escape.

The book is a record of their efforts to locate a safe place and to fight back against this murderous faction.

It's a real page-turner and well worth a read!

[Sharkie · Rating 2 out of 5]

...... meh. The cons of this book outweighed the pros for me, but let's give a nice little outline of why.

1 - the story was genuinely decent. I liked the premise, and it was good...

2 - ... until the ending. The ending was shit, to be frank. It's annoyed me just how shit it was.

3 - So many kick ass, awesome females! There is not enough females in sci-fi, and the sheer amount of them in this book made me so happy.

4 - Where the hell was the editor? Or literally anyone who can edit or notice mistakes? There was so freaking many mistakes, I genuinely ranted about it to many people. It took me out of the novel every time, and the sheer amount of them annoyed me so much.

I think I'll stop here. I don't want to turn this into a rant, filled with spoilers. But it just lost it for me, so 2 stars is what it gets.

[Fred Langridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I understand it, this is Una McCormack writing in Eric Brown's universe (and she has the sole author credit on the next in the series, which is waiting on my To Read pile).
It's SF with a lot of focus on the characters and their relationships - similar to Becky Chambers: ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. It has plenty of plot, though! I read it on Kindle but Goodreads says it's 332 pages in paperback, and I zoomed through it - easy reading and very enjoyable.
Space opera with a cast mostly of women is a refreshing change.

[Iona Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up solely because it's by Una McCormack, who is usually worth the price of admission. Sadly the book turns out to be an instance of a shared universe series (Weird Space) which I don't find that compelling in itself. That said, it's interesting for what it is, and McCormack's SF is unfailingly refreshing: next to none of the main characters are men even though this is military hard-ish SF, and on no occasion does a male character consider a woman's breasts in loving and grotesque detail. I would have liked it just for that.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept. Had some serious issues with some of the cultural world building (we've built this incredible society across the stars with soaring cities and yet a woman will lose her job for being pregnant? wtf?) and was really left wondering what this story would be like written by Tansy Rayner Roberts or Ann Leckie. Didn't really care about most of the characters. It was a good enough story that I wanted to finish it, but not so much that I'm motivated to look for the sequel.

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Same universe as the previous two novels, but a completely separate storyline. No intertwining of the past characters with these new characters. Develops more on the interesting hive-mass that is the Weird, but the story told here got a little dull at times.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Baba Yaga is the third novel in the Weird Space setting that was created by Eric Brown for Abaddon Books. While Brown wrote the first two novels – The Devil’s Nebula (review) and Satan’s Reach (review) – Una McCormack is stepping into the fold for this third novel. I was initially drawn to the Weird Space books as a big fan of Eric Brown’s work despite not being entirely convinced about a shared universe series, and it’s only now that the series is fulfilling its promise with the introduction of a new author to it. While I had obvious worries about The Baba Yaga due to this, I really shouldn’t have – McCormack brings a fresh voice to the setting that only builds upon Brown’s foundations.

From the publisher:
The growing threat of the dimension-invading Weird has driven the Expansion government to outright paranoia. Mandatory telepathic testing is introduced, and the colony Braun’s World – following reports of a new Weird portal opening – is destroyed from orbit, at an unimaginable cost in lives.
Delia Walker, a senior analyst in the Expansion’s intelligence bureau and a holdout of the pragmatic old guard, protest the oppressive new policies and is drummed out. Sure there’s a better way, she charters the decrepit freighter the Baba Yaga and heads into the lawless “Satan’s Reach,” following rumours of a world where humans and the Weird live peacefully side by side.
Hunted by the Bureau, Walker, her piolet Yershov, and Fait – a Vetch child stowaway, fleeing slavery – will uncover secrets about both the Weird and the Expansion; secrets that could prevent catastrophic war…

By the time we join the events of The Baba Yaga the Weird have been covertly invading human and vetch space, their mind parasites controlling those it invades to meet their ends. However, on human worlds psychic screening can identify the infected, but at the cost of the individuals privacy – an aspect those against screening hold dear. But with the news that Braun’s World, a bustling planet well inside human space and far from previous incursions, the latest victim of a Weird portal, the authorities take a hard line: bombing from orbit, killing everyone and everything on the surface, and the introduction of mandatory screening.

While the general mentality of the human Expansion authorities is all-out war on the Weird, Delia Walker wants to see if there is another way to tackle the situation. It’s with this in mind that, after being told her services are no longer required, she heads to Satan’s Reach in order to try and find the mysterious planet where humans, vetch, and the Weird are said to live in peace and harmony. It is with this goal that she enlists the help of Yershov and his ship, the Baba Yaga, to quietly escape the Expansion that is monitoring her. Meanwhile we follow Maria, her child, and her husband as they escape Braun’s World and the devastation wrought on it. But with the Expansion determined to find anyone who has slipped past them and may hold the true version of events, they can only run and hide…

As the third book in this setting, The Baba Yaga can easily be read as a stand-alone novel – Brown and McCormack lay enough information within the narrative for a newcomer to pick up and not feel lost. It’s also helpful that each book so far has a new cast of characters and relatively self-contained story. Saying that, it was nice to see events turn more towards the Weird, the threat they pose, and the way the Expansion plans to deal with it rather than the more individually focused story we saw in Satan’s Reach. However, while The Baba Yaga begins with the bigger picture taking the forefront, it doesn’t stay that way for long as we follow Delia and Maris out of Expansion Space and into Satan’s Reach. This does work though, and the issues introduced at the start are continually brought up as we progress through the story.

I very much liked Delia Walker and the way she deals with the situation she’s in: pregnant and on the run. Her no-nonsense personality and drive to find out what she needs makes her sections move rapidly, and always manage to raise questions. While Maria initially comes across as being out of her depth, things turn around enough that I warmed to her more than I thought I would. However, Failt, a vetch child that comes on the scene, is very interesting and allows a somewhat different view of events through his eyes. Both Brown and McCormack have managed to deliver a varied and diverse cast of characters, all of which bring something extra to the page.

Are there issues with it? Of course, but they’re not deal breakers. However, the ending really did annoy me for not giving closure to the plot threads of the novel. Suffice to say that the door has not only been left open, but rather blown clean off its hinges for more stories in Weird Space.

Nevertheless, The Baba Yaga is an enjoyable novel, and feels like it steps up to the challenge of adding detail to the bigger picture for the Weird Space setting, and certainly more than in Satan’s Reach.

[Lindsey Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original Review Here

The Baba Yaga is the 3rd in the Weird Space series, but the first I have read. There were elements that I imagine made more sense – the threat of the Weird, the war with the Vetch etc – if I had read the first books, but it didn’t deter from the story. Reading the previous books isn’t necessary!

Walker is a cold-hearted practical woman. She gives up everything upon discovering she is pregnant, but is logical and detached about what is happening to her. It’s the other characters – Failt (a runaway Vetch slave), Maria (a young mother on the run) and Larsen (her doctor/friend) – who bring the warmth out of her and make her a likeable character.

Failt was my favourite character. He blended together childish innocence with the wisdom of a slave who had suffered too much to still be naïve. He drew the best out of Walker and was accepted by the majority of the characters. Heyes was so sarcastic and refused to accept any of Walker’s rubbish that she was a close second for favourite.

Yershov was my least favourite. He had no true development, even if helping to protect Maria meant I thought he was going to change. I hoped he would become indispensable and the opposite happened. I wanted more out of him, more to his story, but it never came.

The pacing was steady throughout, with enough danger lurking in each chapter that it kept the tension going. I think the opening might be stronger for people already engrossed in this world but it didn’t take me long to figure out how it all worked. There were the clear good guys, the clear bad guys and some shady characters in-between to keep you from falling into a false sense of security.

It has taken me a while to get into science-fiction novels but I thoroughly enjoyed The Baba Yaga. It gave me my reading buzz back and I couldn’t put it down, meaning it was certainly ticking the boxes. An enjoyable and fun read.

[Sadie Slater · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Baba Yaga is described as being the third book in the Weird Space series, which was created by Eric Brown and then passed over to Una McCormack, who wrote this book and the soon-to-be-released sequel. I haven't read the two books Brown wrote, but I didn't really feel that it mattered, as the opening chapters gave enough background that I didn't feel I was missing anything.

The novel is set sometime in the distant future, when humanity has recently made a fragile peace with the alien Vetch, largely in response to a new threat from the Weird, strange alien beings from another dimension whose encounters with humans and the Vetch to date have been catastrophic. This isn't a utopian Star Trek future; old enmities and suspicions are hard to put aside in the face of new threats, and humanity is split on whether to try to destroy the Weird before it destroys them or to find some way of negotiating a peace. The central character, intelligence analyst Delia Walker, is on the side of negotiations, and has heard rumours of a distant planet where humans and Weird live in harmony. Forced out by the hawkish ascendency in the Intelligence Bureau, she sets off in search of this world, which may well just be a myth.

Part space-opera quest, part Spooks-style thriller, the real delight of this book is in the characters, who are complex and three-dimensional and sympathetic while not always being likeable. Also, almost all of them are women, and reading an SF novel full of well-drawn, non-token female characters was an utter and unexpected joy. And that was before I got to the part where McCormack creates a society which is basically a 1970s feminist utopia brought into a 2010s novel.

Although you don't have to have read the previous novels set in the same universe to understand this one, the ending is very obviously setting up the sequel and although some of the sub-threads are tied off the wider plot is very far from being resolved. Apart from that, the only slight quibble I have with it is that the Kindle edition could have benefitted from more thorough copy-editing, as there were a lot of small errors, particularly missing words or moments where part of a sentence had obviously been rewritten but some of the grammar of the surrounding text needed to be updated to match. But overall, I loved this book, and am really looking forward to the sequel.

(Disclaimer: Una McCormack is an online friend, and I might well not have bought the book in the first place if not for wanting to support her. I'm really glad I did, though, and I'll be buying the next one because I want to read it.)

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

Although listed as Book 3, this is a standalone in a universe created by coauthor Eric Brown (he has written two previous books in the universe but I do not believe they share any characters). The story is fast paced, engaging, and with a multi-POV set of threads that weave together by the end. Although the worldbuilding is fairly shallow (there are a lot of mysteries to be explored in this universe by different authors), I enjoyed reading The Baba Yaga through to the end.

Story: Humans had battled one deadly alien species - only to have another, more powerful and mysterious one appear. Now with a truce in place, political machinations will jeopardize all the peace that has been so hard won and endanger the lives of many. When a colony world is attacked and destroyed by the new alien menace, one group of people will need to connect with another to reveal a galaxy-wide conspiracy.

What we have are two central POVs: Delia Walker is an intelligence agent caught up in the high end politics of human space. Maria is a colonist and the mother of a young daughter; she unwittingly holds the evidence to a devastating truth. Both women are fleeing, one with purpose and the other with desperation. Although I enjoyed Delia's story much more than Maria's, both characters are well drawn. A wide collection of supporting characters were similarly fleshed out and distinct.

The Baba Yaga (named for a Russian Legend) had some great action sequences and I enjoyed reading stories of tough women characters who can hold their own. The contrast of Delia's worldliness and Maria's naivete was a smart choice, as were some of the more interesting details about each of their lives. Most of the book is a mystery that the two women have to uncover; there are some twists near the end that I particularly liked.

The book is written in a straightforward fashion and the sci fi never gets in the way of characterization or story. I look forward to reading more from Una McCormack and hope she returns to this universe. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Andreas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This ARC was kindly provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

For some reason I have missed that this is already the 3rd book in a shared world universe. Don't worry though, it can be read on its own. During the course of events it first felt like the SAGA series (Saga, Volume 1) with a young couple and a toddler on the run and later I had to think of Star Wars.

The story starts very interesting with a big event, power struggle within the intelligence bureau and slowly revealed secrets. There is a strong cast of mostly female characters and I liked that not even the main protagonist Delia Walker is without flaws. This spices up many situations because tension and personal relations overshadow rational arguments. Her direct way isn't always the most effective one.

The locations and people were colorful and provided a good atmosphere for the space opera. It all worked pretty well for me until the people reached the last stop on their trip. I don't want to spoiler so let me just say that I ended up shaking my head in disbelief about what was going on here. There was too much talk and for important events just the outcome was presented but not how it happened. In addition I was very disappointed with the end of the book that doesn't resolve anything about the Weird and was just lame. Anything would have been fine and the potential was surely there to sparkle the SF sense of Wonder but this? Just imagine 2001: A Space Odyssey would have ended halfway through...

As I very much enjoyed the rest of the book I will give it 3 stars out of 5. If the author manages to craft a better ending I will surely pick up her next book too.

[Jacob Hodges · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humans have just ended their war with the Vetch and are beginning to live peacefully with one another. Until a new enemy begins to wage war on human planets. The most recent annihilation took place on Braun's World, a devastating massacre that wiped out all human life. The enemy, known as the Weird, has recently opened up a portal nearby and all live in fear that their attacks are moving forward. 

Delia Walker, a government official for the Expansion, discovers she is pregnant - something strictly forbidden in the Expansion for fear of infection by the Weird. She is discovered after being betrayed by her friends, and fired knowing her superiors are out to kill her for this. She takes off for a mythical planet where rumor has it that the humans, the Vetch, and the Weird live peacefully. However, she has no idea where this world is. She hires Yershov, a crazy pilot for the Baba Yaga and requests that he take her. Along the way, they find a Vetch child has hitchhiked on the ship and pledges his loyalty to Delia. 

Expansion officials are not too far behind as they chase Delia throughout the universe trying to kill her for fear she will let their secret out. The problem is, she has no idea what they are talking about. But the secret does begin to leak out that there's more to the recent annihilation at Braun's World than meets the eye. And the Expansion will stop at nothing to kill all of those who know.

This is the third book in the Weird Space series by Brown. Though it can be read as a stand alone and appreciated, it was nice to have read the first two to have back story. This is a fast-paced, fun novel that essentially is an intergalactic space chase. There are lots of twists and turns and the writing is spot on - exciting, fast, descriptive, and fun. The ending is a good one but does finish a little cryptically, so definitely be on the lookout for a sequel.

Overall, great story, great writing, great new installment in this series. Personally, this is the best so far in the Weird Space series.

[Les · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fine continuation to what is actually turning into a rather good space opera series where a vast galactic civilization is contending with invasion by the mysterious and seemingly invincible Weird from another dimension of space. I've long been a fan of Eric Brown's work, and this time he's allowed another author to latch onto his ideas and to move the story forward. Una McCormack is evidently very experienced with sci-fi writing and this shows through with this book. It's written in a nice style, is an easy read, and generally moves along in a nice steady way. There was never a point anywhere where thongs got boring or stale, and the author kept developing the background universe which will support future stories in the series. The story has a great beginning and end and the middle sections are enjoyable to read if not spectacular in any particular way. The conclusion opens up new questions about key aspects of the story, i.e. what the Weird really are and what their intentions are. McCormack has written a story that feels very much like what I've come to expect from Brown, which means a good story that doesn't mess with my head too much yet delivers a very entertaining journey through the pages. I was pleasantly surprised with this one. Definitely recommended.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the future there are MANY women! Having read so many scifi books over the years where the future is all male, or there may be ONE woman character it was SO lovely to read a book where all the main characters were women. We had a woman from the secret service, a priest, a doctor and a mother. It was so much easier to envision a future society that actually contained women as part of the population. And not super hero bad ass women, but actual women, who had to deal with things like unplanned pregnancies and whining children who didn't understand they were on the run for their lives and as such they couldn't go back for the Monkey. It all made the setting really feel real.

I hadn't read the previous novels set in this universe, but that didn't matter. Una created a world and characters that didn't need the previous background. It was an interesting story filled with a very real sense of danger, loss and mystery. As soon as I was finished I went and bought the sequel. I would love to see this made into a film. Highly recommended.

[Edie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid science fiction story that stands alone just fine although there are other books set in this shared universe. If you don't read science fiction, this isn't the book to entice you to join us. However, if this is your genre then I have no qualms about recommending it. The world building is easy to follow, the action moves along, characters are interesting. Nothing terribly shocking or innovative but solidly entertaining. You'll see most of the plot developments coming and none of the characters are particularly noteworthy but sometimes an easy, entertaining read is all you want.

[Sonic · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't often give books a single star, but this one deserves it without question. I'm really not sure how this one slipped past the editor, but it is a truly radical departure from the other two books in the series.

I've read several of Eric Brown's other books, and enjoyed most of them, but this... This was painful, and the only reason I finished it was because I was hoping for some kind of return to the feel of the previous two books in this series. Sadly this was not the case.

[Red Tide · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

The Weird Space series is well worth reading, which if you've read either of the first two books you already know. Each book is the story of a different set of people trying to survive in this universe.

The books are really well written and the characters were fascinating to me. The stories are about real people and aliens with different world views. This universe is really worthy of the time that you spend there.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was the write up for this book that hot me reading the other 2. These Are NOT "HARD" sci-fi but are decent sci-fi. This one reads like a 2 part Firefly episode, I'm not complaining as I love Firefly. There are a few decent twists and the end is not a surprise. The bad guys are a bit over the top and predictable. But it makes for a fun read once the chase starts.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Subtract 1 star for lack of any indication of the book's placement in a series. This is very discourteous to any readers who are trying to asses the book when finding it at random. I was going to see about further books in the series, but I don't think it is worth it, due to the aforementioned issue.

[Claudia Putnam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too bad. Some corny dialogue and Mary Sue-ism etc. Entertaining.

[S.T. Oner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a roller coaster of a book, with some very sad moments. It was heading for a five, but the ending moved it to four stars. An impressive read exploring compassion, motivation, and the ability to change. It is also looks at fear of those who are different, the extremes people to will go to for building their power bases, and it seemed a very timely read.

[Falbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun book with a lot of interesting ideas and characters that just ended in the middle of nowhere. None of the major themes were concluded in any sort of satisfying fashion, but I would definitely be interested in a sequel if one existed. Seems there are a lot of books set in this universe, but none of them appear to be a direct extension of this particular story. Kind of a bummer to be left hanging the way this one leaves us.