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Windswept #2
Like a Boss
In this breathless and hilarious followup to Windswept, former labor organiser Padma Mehta’s worst nightmare comes true: she gets yanked out of early retirement.
After buying her favourite rum distillery and settling down, she thought she’d heard the last of her arch nemesis, Evanrute Saarien. But Saarien, fresh out of prison for his misdeeds in Windswept, has just fabricated a new religion, positioning himself as its holy leader. He’s telling his congregation to go on strike, to fight the system. And unfortunately, they’re listening to him.
Now Padma’s summoned by the Union president to help stop this strike from happening. The problem is, she’s out of practice. And, the more she digs, the more she realises this whole strike business is more complicated than the Union president let on…
File Under: Science Fiction [ Fraud Almighty / City on Fire / Let’s Be Reasonable Please / All Outta Bubble Gum ]
After buying her favourite rum distillery and settling down, she thought she’d heard the last of her arch nemesis, Evanrute Saarien. But Saarien, fresh out of prison for his misdeeds in Windswept, has just fabricated a new religion, positioning himself as its holy leader. He’s telling his congregation to go on strike, to fight the system. And unfortunately, they’re listening to him.
Now Padma’s summoned by the Union president to help stop this strike from happening. The problem is, she’s out of practice. And, the more she digs, the more she realises this whole strike business is more complicated than the Union president let on…
File Under: Science Fiction [ Fraud Almighty / City on Fire / Let’s Be Reasonable Please / All Outta Bubble Gum ]
Kindle Edition
First published June 7, 2016
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378 people want to read
About the author
Adam Rakunas
7 books66 followersAdam Rakunas was born, raised, and educated in Southern California. He now lives in the Pacific Northwest. These things are related.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
July 20, 2022
Like a Boss
(Windswept #2)
by Adam Rakunas
I have so enjoyed this series! They are well thought out, terrific characters, zany situations, love Padma, and it is so witty and fun I giggled a lot listening to this book! I picked it up cheap from my favorite audio place, Chirp!
The same villain is back but there is so many twists to everything. Padma rocks! A woman of grit and determination! Action packed with a retired gal as the hero! Tough as nails but a heart of gold! Hope there is another book!
The narration is super! Multiple narrators that are all terrific! I have definitely become a fan of this author!
(Windswept #2)
by Adam Rakunas
I have so enjoyed this series! They are well thought out, terrific characters, zany situations, love Padma, and it is so witty and fun I giggled a lot listening to this book! I picked it up cheap from my favorite audio place, Chirp!
The same villain is back but there is so many twists to everything. Padma rocks! A woman of grit and determination! Action packed with a retired gal as the hero! Tough as nails but a heart of gold! Hope there is another book!
The narration is super! Multiple narrators that are all terrific! I have definitely become a fan of this author!
February 9, 2017
This book made me cry on the way to work. And it's really hard to explain to a bunch of strangers that no, really, you're fine, you're just SO HAPPY to see idealism and hope not only given space on page, but fucking championed. But luckily I live in London, so nobody was making eye contact / seeing me and I didn't have to try.
When you're not looking, Adam Rakunas takes on privilege, socialism, corruption and the politics of anger as Padma Mehta tries to find out just why the hell everyone on Santee Anchorage wants to go on strike. Is her nemesis Evanrute Saarien behind it? Why is the President of the Union so determined Padma gets involved? And is it going to interfere with her six o'clock ritual sip of Old Windswept?
A riot (several, actually), with big ideas propelling its comic noir energy and a new host of awesome characters. This is not message fiction. But it's got a message anyway: don't let all the grimdarks and dystopias wear you down. Sometimes you just have to do the work and keep a wrench handy.
Full review
Full disclosure: I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
When you're not looking, Adam Rakunas takes on privilege, socialism, corruption and the politics of anger as Padma Mehta tries to find out just why the hell everyone on Santee Anchorage wants to go on strike. Is her nemesis Evanrute Saarien behind it? Why is the President of the Union so determined Padma gets involved? And is it going to interfere with her six o'clock ritual sip of Old Windswept?
A riot (several, actually), with big ideas propelling its comic noir energy and a new host of awesome characters. This is not message fiction. But it's got a message anyway: don't let all the grimdarks and dystopias wear you down. Sometimes you just have to do the work and keep a wrench handy.
Full review
Full disclosure: I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
November 14, 2016
Turned out to be an excellent election-survival book.
June 10, 2016
I only regret that I didn't fill the entire book with memes.
April 18, 2016
*copy from Netgalley in exchange for a review*
Like A Boss is the sequel to Adam Rakunas’ debut novel, Windswept, which I talked about rather positively last year.
We’re back with the inestimable Padma, now splitting her time between running the Old Windswept Distillery and cleaning out the city sewage system, trying to pay off some rather extensive property damage from the previous book. This is a somewhat wiser Padma though; she’s still just as angry, a pot perpetually on the boil, but there’s a sense of burgeoning self-knowledge there as well. Rather than the recruiter of Windswept, keen to make her quota and retire, there’s a more measured, reflective set of responses in Padma now. She’s running the distillery, a boss, and part of the rum-and-cane co-op which seems to server Windswept as a proto-governing body. But she’s working at being a good boss, working on dealing with people as people.
This self-discovery continues throughout the text. Padma isn’t just one thing, which is fantastic – she’s not a heroine, or a misanthrope. An arse-kicker or a thinker. An idol or its shattered remains. She’s all of those things, a multifaceted presence, whose weariness pours off the page around a white-hot core of anger and ideals. She may not be perfect, but that rather feels like the point. Padma is an ordinary, if damaged, person, reacting as people do, and trying to make the best of her life. Whether that includes making it better for anyone around her is a matter for debate.
I rather liked Padma in Windswept, and it’s great to see more of her here, and see the gradual, organic-feeling shifts in character over the narrative. That she’s highly skilled (but makes mistakes) and acerbic, but mostly doing her best - this sort of well portrayed complexity means that she’s a pleasure to read about. It would have been nice to have a closer view of the supporting cast – there’s a more disparate group than last time, and perhaps a loss of intimacy, compared to the relationships from the first text. This is counterbalanced in some ways by the tighter focus on Padma - it would, however, be great to see more of the supporting cast in any later books.
The world – well, we saw rather a lot of Windswept before. There’s some changes here, in a town kept alive by corporate need. After the events of the last novel, the town is having to cope with the fallout. It feels a bit smaller, and perhaps because of that, a bit more intimate. There’s an intriguing dialogue going on between the folk in the city, processing cane, turning it into rum, and so on – and the dwellers in the kampong, those who cut the cane and deliver it. You can feel the social forces in conflict, trying to find a divide or common ground. It’s a subtle undercurrent in a lot of the dialogue between those two groups, and a division which informs their actions as much as that between the folk of the town and those still inside the corporate enclave.
Then there’s the divide between the Union bosses and their cohorts in the city. A sense that the union is bifurcated, that it’s becoming more, for want of a better word, corporate, also pervades the text. Padma sits in the middle, moved into the organising committees alongside her distillery ownership, but come from nothing, and still unclogging a lot of rather clogged piping. The unspoken issue of how the union is run, what it’s for, and why that matters, crackles through the page. It’s engaging stuff, approaching complex issues with humour and a refusal to look away from both the bad and the good. To be fair, as with the country and city division, this one is mostly in the subtext, but it did keep me interested, and keep me thinking, which was fantastic.
The plot – well, no spoilers here. But Padma’s retirement is, to put it mildly, nowhere near as comfortable as she assumes. There’s an intriguing array of crosses – double, and possibly even triple. Occasionally I had to re-read bits to make sure I was correct about what was going on, and, critically, why it was happening. But having said that, the political intrigue carries an appropriately lethal level of skulduggery, and there’s some beautiful set pieces, from the action-packed to moments of wonderfully tense emotional vulnerability. The story ramps the stakes up gradually, but never seems to stop doing so – and ties the grander global game with a more personal struggle for Padma in a way which makes for an eminently enjoyable read.
Is it worth reading? As a follow up to Windswept, I’d say yes – if you missed Padma especially. It’s a cracking read, and I’m looking forward to seeing where Padma and Rakunas take us next.
Like A Boss is the sequel to Adam Rakunas’ debut novel, Windswept, which I talked about rather positively last year.
We’re back with the inestimable Padma, now splitting her time between running the Old Windswept Distillery and cleaning out the city sewage system, trying to pay off some rather extensive property damage from the previous book. This is a somewhat wiser Padma though; she’s still just as angry, a pot perpetually on the boil, but there’s a sense of burgeoning self-knowledge there as well. Rather than the recruiter of Windswept, keen to make her quota and retire, there’s a more measured, reflective set of responses in Padma now. She’s running the distillery, a boss, and part of the rum-and-cane co-op which seems to server Windswept as a proto-governing body. But she’s working at being a good boss, working on dealing with people as people.
This self-discovery continues throughout the text. Padma isn’t just one thing, which is fantastic – she’s not a heroine, or a misanthrope. An arse-kicker or a thinker. An idol or its shattered remains. She’s all of those things, a multifaceted presence, whose weariness pours off the page around a white-hot core of anger and ideals. She may not be perfect, but that rather feels like the point. Padma is an ordinary, if damaged, person, reacting as people do, and trying to make the best of her life. Whether that includes making it better for anyone around her is a matter for debate.
I rather liked Padma in Windswept, and it’s great to see more of her here, and see the gradual, organic-feeling shifts in character over the narrative. That she’s highly skilled (but makes mistakes) and acerbic, but mostly doing her best - this sort of well portrayed complexity means that she’s a pleasure to read about. It would have been nice to have a closer view of the supporting cast – there’s a more disparate group than last time, and perhaps a loss of intimacy, compared to the relationships from the first text. This is counterbalanced in some ways by the tighter focus on Padma - it would, however, be great to see more of the supporting cast in any later books.
The world – well, we saw rather a lot of Windswept before. There’s some changes here, in a town kept alive by corporate need. After the events of the last novel, the town is having to cope with the fallout. It feels a bit smaller, and perhaps because of that, a bit more intimate. There’s an intriguing dialogue going on between the folk in the city, processing cane, turning it into rum, and so on – and the dwellers in the kampong, those who cut the cane and deliver it. You can feel the social forces in conflict, trying to find a divide or common ground. It’s a subtle undercurrent in a lot of the dialogue between those two groups, and a division which informs their actions as much as that between the folk of the town and those still inside the corporate enclave.
Then there’s the divide between the Union bosses and their cohorts in the city. A sense that the union is bifurcated, that it’s becoming more, for want of a better word, corporate, also pervades the text. Padma sits in the middle, moved into the organising committees alongside her distillery ownership, but come from nothing, and still unclogging a lot of rather clogged piping. The unspoken issue of how the union is run, what it’s for, and why that matters, crackles through the page. It’s engaging stuff, approaching complex issues with humour and a refusal to look away from both the bad and the good. To be fair, as with the country and city division, this one is mostly in the subtext, but it did keep me interested, and keep me thinking, which was fantastic.
The plot – well, no spoilers here. But Padma’s retirement is, to put it mildly, nowhere near as comfortable as she assumes. There’s an intriguing array of crosses – double, and possibly even triple. Occasionally I had to re-read bits to make sure I was correct about what was going on, and, critically, why it was happening. But having said that, the political intrigue carries an appropriately lethal level of skulduggery, and there’s some beautiful set pieces, from the action-packed to moments of wonderfully tense emotional vulnerability. The story ramps the stakes up gradually, but never seems to stop doing so – and ties the grander global game with a more personal struggle for Padma in a way which makes for an eminently enjoyable read.
Is it worth reading? As a follow up to Windswept, I’d say yes – if you missed Padma especially. It’s a cracking read, and I’m looking forward to seeing where Padma and Rakunas take us next.
April 28, 2016
Publisher: Angry Robot
Publishing Date: June 2016
ISBN: 9780857664822
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 2.8/5
Publishers Description: In this breathless and hilarious followup to Philip K Dick Award-nominated Windswept, former labor organiser Padma’s worst nightmare comes true: she gets yanked out of early retirement. After buying her favourite rum distillery and settling down, she thought she’d heard the last of her arch nemesis, Evanrute Saarien. But Saarien, fresh out of prison for his misdeeds in Windswept, has just fabricated a new religion, positioning himself as its holy leader. He’s telling his congregation to go on strike, to fight the system. And unfortunately, they’re listening to him.
Review: Is that Padma Longstockings wielding a wrench? Again, the cover art blows.
This chick rocks what with her determined mien coupled with a deep and hidden vulnerability that lashes out with intent and variety. She is at once horny, feisty, reflective and scared shitless. She overcomes her shortcomings to do what she thinks is right and never wavers from her goals even in the face of chronic self-doubt. She gets help from old Windswept rum when friends are in short supply and her psychosis comes a knockin’. As you move with her through life, you will find yourself rooting for her in hopes that she somehow is elevated to just rewards.
Anywaaaay, still entertaining.
Publishing Date: June 2016
ISBN: 9780857664822
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 2.8/5
Publishers Description: In this breathless and hilarious followup to Philip K Dick Award-nominated Windswept, former labor organiser Padma’s worst nightmare comes true: she gets yanked out of early retirement. After buying her favourite rum distillery and settling down, she thought she’d heard the last of her arch nemesis, Evanrute Saarien. But Saarien, fresh out of prison for his misdeeds in Windswept, has just fabricated a new religion, positioning himself as its holy leader. He’s telling his congregation to go on strike, to fight the system. And unfortunately, they’re listening to him.
Review: Is that Padma Longstockings wielding a wrench? Again, the cover art blows.
This chick rocks what with her determined mien coupled with a deep and hidden vulnerability that lashes out with intent and variety. She is at once horny, feisty, reflective and scared shitless. She overcomes her shortcomings to do what she thinks is right and never wavers from her goals even in the face of chronic self-doubt. She gets help from old Windswept rum when friends are in short supply and her psychosis comes a knockin’. As you move with her through life, you will find yourself rooting for her in hopes that she somehow is elevated to just rewards.
Anywaaaay, still entertaining.
July 13, 2016
You like action, right? Of course. Ornery but lovable protagonists? Naturally. Labor disputes? Yeawhaaaaaaa?
Look, the book is titled Like A Boss. You should know what you're getting into. Following the events of Windswept, it really seems everything's going okay for Padma Mehta. You think that's gonna last? Pretty soon she's running for her life, trying to quell a planetwide strike, and make it home in time for her evening finger of rum.
I'll admit that Adam's book is funny and fast-paced, but what I can't forgive is that it actually makes me think about the implications of planetary economics and sugarcane. Damn it. I think I need some rum myself.
Look, the book is titled Like A Boss. You should know what you're getting into. Following the events of Windswept, it really seems everything's going okay for Padma Mehta. You think that's gonna last? Pretty soon she's running for her life, trying to quell a planetwide strike, and make it home in time for her evening finger of rum.
I'll admit that Adam's book is funny and fast-paced, but what I can't forgive is that it actually makes me think about the implications of planetary economics and sugarcane. Damn it. I think I need some rum myself.
Read
October 4, 2024I ova je dobra i sindikalna, i u ovoj junakinja opet popije nonšalantno sve batine ovog sveta
June 17, 2017
Political space setting unions/strikes with a rum distillery operation (alot of different things going on). I didnt read the 1st but this still made sense. Id expect reading the 1st would make this even more fun.
April 24, 2016
Like a Boss surpasses Adam Rakunas's first novel Windswept - a surprising feat to accomplish when you consider just how good a novel Windswept is. The series has everything that makes for a scifi classic - a richly imagined world, a plot that is thrilling and thought provoking while successfully commenting on current issues, a diverse well developed cast of characters, and that touch of magic that comes from an author gifted with eloquence and imagination.
The universe in which Like a Boss is set is controlled by a conglomerate made up of 3 giant corporations. Everyone is born into corporate indenture. Every part of life is dedicated to either increasing corporate revenues and efficiency or consuming the products in accord to corporate dictates. Life, death and everything in between are dictated by the Big Three. It's no surprise that a number of people are willing to risk jumping ship despite the dangers posed.
Life on Santee Anchorage is hard, but it works, as Walwa is dependent on the planet's exports of cane and rum. But the black stripe that blighted numerous cane fields offset the balance. Padma Mehta isn't a hero. She is just a woman who wants to do her job each day and know that the rum distillery she owns is staying in production. The last thing she expects is to find her workers deserting and the Coop threatening to buy her out. On top of everything Evanrute Saarien who tried to kill her is out of prison amassing a following. Whispers of "strike" are flowing through the city. The Union president wants Padma to stop the strike, but something smells, and it isn't the freshly pressed cane. Between struggling to unravel conspiracies and keep Santee's population from killing each other, Padma has just about all she can handle - and that's before the bombs start.
Like a Boss is very different from the run of the mill scifi adventure, but don't let that stop you from picking up this amazing read.
5/5
I received a copy of Like a Boss from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
--Crittermom
The universe in which Like a Boss is set is controlled by a conglomerate made up of 3 giant corporations. Everyone is born into corporate indenture. Every part of life is dedicated to either increasing corporate revenues and efficiency or consuming the products in accord to corporate dictates. Life, death and everything in between are dictated by the Big Three. It's no surprise that a number of people are willing to risk jumping ship despite the dangers posed.
Life on Santee Anchorage is hard, but it works, as Walwa is dependent on the planet's exports of cane and rum. But the black stripe that blighted numerous cane fields offset the balance. Padma Mehta isn't a hero. She is just a woman who wants to do her job each day and know that the rum distillery she owns is staying in production. The last thing she expects is to find her workers deserting and the Coop threatening to buy her out. On top of everything Evanrute Saarien who tried to kill her is out of prison amassing a following. Whispers of "strike" are flowing through the city. The Union president wants Padma to stop the strike, but something smells, and it isn't the freshly pressed cane. Between struggling to unravel conspiracies and keep Santee's population from killing each other, Padma has just about all she can handle - and that's before the bombs start.
Like a Boss is very different from the run of the mill scifi adventure, but don't let that stop you from picking up this amazing read.
5/5
I received a copy of Like a Boss from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
--Crittermom
July 27, 2016
At the very end of this book, Adam Rakunas includes a little blurb about the process of writing this book, & he notes that writing Like a Boss was the fastest turnaround time he'd ever done. It kinda shows.
Don't get me wrong, this was packed full of great Padma moments, stumbling from one bad situation to the next in her own way, but I can't help but feel like he bit off more than he could chew with the scope of this plot. By the end, there were still many unresolved issues and the central nefarious plot lacked sufficient motive for me to believe that it was natural.
In a way, I think what happened was the effort to make this book a direct allegory to current events distracted from the direct development of the details of the plot. That said, it was nice to see such idealistic events (a workers' revolt! RISE UP!) in a sci-fi novel! I'm sure Marx & Lenin looked down and smiled upon this book.
I really really really do like Padma though, so I hope lessons can be learned from this book for the third instalment!
P.S. OH and apparently Rakunas is a major Kameron Hurley fan so, you know, big bonus points for that :D
Don't get me wrong, this was packed full of great Padma moments, stumbling from one bad situation to the next in her own way, but I can't help but feel like he bit off more than he could chew with the scope of this plot. By the end, there were still many unresolved issues and the central nefarious plot lacked sufficient motive for me to believe that it was natural.
In a way, I think what happened was the effort to make this book a direct allegory to current events distracted from the direct development of the details of the plot. That said, it was nice to see such idealistic events (a workers' revolt! RISE UP!) in a sci-fi novel! I'm sure Marx & Lenin looked down and smiled upon this book.
I really really really do like Padma though, so I hope lessons can be learned from this book for the third instalment!
P.S. OH and apparently Rakunas is a major Kameron Hurley fan so, you know, big bonus points for that :D
May 15, 2016
3.5 solid follow up to windswept. i appreciate the strong characters. the plot is believable and well paced.
February 7, 2017
This review orignally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 3.5 of 5
I wasn't entirely thrilled with the first book in this series (see review here), finding it to be tremendously average. But when most of a book is centered around union rabble-rousing, it's challenging to develop an interesting sci-fi story. But it wasn't worth abandoning entirely and so I went in to this, the second book in the series, trying to keep an open mind.
I liked this book much more.
Padma Mehta was once a union labor organizer but then bought the Windswept distillery and was hoping to retire comfortably with some really top-notch Windswept rum. But her enemy, Evanrute Saarien, who had been in jail for crimes committed at Windswept, is stirring up the pot again, trying to tell anyone who will listen to him that they should go out on strike. And the people ARE listening to him.
Padma is yanked out of her retirement dreams by the current union president who has proven to be ineffective in controlling the union members. Padma is coerced more than encouraged to fight for the union once again, but Saarien's damage isn't just contained to the distillery workers - it's a planet-wide strike.
This book is a thrill-a-minute train ride with plenty of action. As different groups get in to the striking fray, we have a build up of more and more violence and potential violence. Padma doesn't trust either Saarien or president Letty but she can see that she needs to choose a side in order to get her distillery operating again.
Author Adam Rakunas does a nice job of portraying Padma as the reluctant hero. We see her tortured decisions and her reticence to get involved. But at the same time, she is driven and committed once she makes a choice and we see why she was successful when she worked for the union and why she's successful as a distillery owner.
The secondary characters are not quite as clearly defined. Letty and Saarien are essentially the same character but on opposite sides of an issue (I know ... that's sort of the point) and there isn't much to make them stand out.
I might have once said that the plot is hard to believe - a planet-wide strike! - but as I write this it is voting day in the United States and I've seen a lot of polarizing political behavior and suddenly the idea of behavior on such a scale seems much more possible (it helps that this planet is not quite the same in size as our Earth).
Overall, I had more fun and was sucked into the story a little more although I would have liked a little more depth to some of the secondary characters.
Looking for a good book? Like a Boss by Adam Rakunas takes us back into the Windswept series with plenty of action in a political sci-fi adventure.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
I wasn't entirely thrilled with the first book in this series (see review here), finding it to be tremendously average. But when most of a book is centered around union rabble-rousing, it's challenging to develop an interesting sci-fi story. But it wasn't worth abandoning entirely and so I went in to this, the second book in the series, trying to keep an open mind.
I liked this book much more.
Padma Mehta was once a union labor organizer but then bought the Windswept distillery and was hoping to retire comfortably with some really top-notch Windswept rum. But her enemy, Evanrute Saarien, who had been in jail for crimes committed at Windswept, is stirring up the pot again, trying to tell anyone who will listen to him that they should go out on strike. And the people ARE listening to him.
Padma is yanked out of her retirement dreams by the current union president who has proven to be ineffective in controlling the union members. Padma is coerced more than encouraged to fight for the union once again, but Saarien's damage isn't just contained to the distillery workers - it's a planet-wide strike.
This book is a thrill-a-minute train ride with plenty of action. As different groups get in to the striking fray, we have a build up of more and more violence and potential violence. Padma doesn't trust either Saarien or president Letty but she can see that she needs to choose a side in order to get her distillery operating again.
Author Adam Rakunas does a nice job of portraying Padma as the reluctant hero. We see her tortured decisions and her reticence to get involved. But at the same time, she is driven and committed once she makes a choice and we see why she was successful when she worked for the union and why she's successful as a distillery owner.
The secondary characters are not quite as clearly defined. Letty and Saarien are essentially the same character but on opposite sides of an issue (I know ... that's sort of the point) and there isn't much to make them stand out.
I might have once said that the plot is hard to believe - a planet-wide strike! - but as I write this it is voting day in the United States and I've seen a lot of polarizing political behavior and suddenly the idea of behavior on such a scale seems much more possible (it helps that this planet is not quite the same in size as our Earth).
Overall, I had more fun and was sucked into the story a little more although I would have liked a little more depth to some of the secondary characters.
Looking for a good book? Like a Boss by Adam Rakunas takes us back into the Windswept series with plenty of action in a political sci-fi adventure.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
April 29, 2017
It's time to abandon ship me mateys! And oh I be highly disappointed. I just re-read the first book of the series, windswept and gave it me second reflections. While I still loved that novel, I should have skipped this one completely. I made it to page 51 of 375. Two things made me grumpy: 1) the mention of Jackson Pollack (pg. 41) and 2) the bad guy (pg. 50).
Now I have no real hatred of Jackson Pollack, but the mention of him was just so incongruous that I was taken aback and thrown out of the story. And to be fair the story was fine up until that moment. Then the premise of Padma's new problem to solve was introduced on page 51 and it made me furious. It seemed both unrealistic and a lazy choice. I had no interest in this storyline at all. Had I read the blurb for the second book, I would have known and not purchased it. But I normally don't read book two synopses because I like being surprised.
Mistake on this one. Wish it had stayed a standalone.
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordp...
Now I have no real hatred of Jackson Pollack, but the mention of him was just so incongruous that I was taken aback and thrown out of the story. And to be fair the story was fine up until that moment. Then the premise of Padma's new problem to solve was introduced on page 51 and it made me furious. It seemed both unrealistic and a lazy choice. I had no interest in this storyline at all. Had I read the blurb for the second book, I would have known and not purchased it. But I normally don't read book two synopses because I like being surprised.
Mistake on this one. Wish it had stayed a standalone.
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordp...
October 27, 2018
Just finished re-reading this. Written in 2015, it's not quite the revolution we need to read about most: Padma is too central, the mass of the people a little too passive. Other people don't talk to each other enough, she does too much because She's the Only One.
But at least she starts from a position of little privilege: she's not the child of anyone in particular, her family isn't wealthy or aristocratic or chosen or Special. I am SO SICK of SFF heroes who are essentially aristocrats, born to high degree. I don't want yet another story about an Aragorn wannabe, I want Sam Gamgee.
And Rakunas is one of the very few who gets that. The re-iterated theme of this novel is that we are Stronger Together (sound familiar?). That's what we need to keep in mind as we lock arms to deal with these Interesting Times.
But at least she starts from a position of little privilege: she's not the child of anyone in particular, her family isn't wealthy or aristocratic or chosen or Special. I am SO SICK of SFF heroes who are essentially aristocrats, born to high degree. I don't want yet another story about an Aragorn wannabe, I want Sam Gamgee.
And Rakunas is one of the very few who gets that. The re-iterated theme of this novel is that we are Stronger Together (sound familiar?). That's what we need to keep in mind as we lock arms to deal with these Interesting Times.
August 30, 2016
Even better than Windswept!
In Windswept, Padma started out somewhat self involved. She initially focused most, if not all of her attention on signing her last few Breaches so she could retire and buy the Windswept distillery. She eventually realized how much she had been ignoring people - her people. In Like a Boss, she starts out owning her distillery but also working one of the worst jobs available to make up for some of what she feels is her fault from the first book. She was an enjoyable character in before and she's even better now. She's smarter, wiser, much more tuned into everyone around her but still just as sarcastic and willing to knock heads together to make her point.
In Windswept, Padma started out somewhat self involved. She initially focused most, if not all of her attention on signing her last few Breaches so she could retire and buy the Windswept distillery. She eventually realized how much she had been ignoring people - her people. In Like a Boss, she starts out owning her distillery but also working one of the worst jobs available to make up for some of what she feels is her fault from the first book. She was an enjoyable character in before and she's even better now. She's smarter, wiser, much more tuned into everyone around her but still just as sarcastic and willing to knock heads together to make her point.
May 10, 2016
I loved the twists and turns in Windswept, Book One in the series. Once again Padma Mehta is in trouble. It all starts with the rum distillery and moves on from there. Like a Boss has some additional back story and world building along with a almost new cast of characters. There is a lot of trouble in the wind and Padma is the only one who can find the cause and a solution. Great follow up to Windswept. There is the same tension, plot surprise and humor that is a hallmark of the series. Can’t wait to see what happens next.
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August 1, 2016This was an excellent book. I also read the first book in this series: Windswept. I plan to re-read both which is high praise for any sci-fi novels. These were not space opera combat novels. However, the insights to complex needs for planetary industry were provocative and very persuasive in content and structure as well as how the events were played out. I highly praise this author and his works. For your benefit I recommend reading them in sequence, but you will find this is not needed which is also very rare among writing styles.
May 14, 2016
Fantastic story. Not an actual follow up to Windswept, but rather a completely separate tale with some of your favorites from the past. Excellent pacing and plot. Great character development with much deeper psychological examination. A fast read with smooth transitions. Very much an A+ book in the Windswept Universe.
June 15, 2016
I had no idea that this book would address so many issues that seem so important in 2016. Because it's all about regular folks working together and not letting the elites divide them. Ain't no time to hate, people! I'm sticking with the Union!
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July 13, 2016
A wonderful commentary about our modern world and current events, told in a creatively fictional story set on another world in another time. Union workers, non-union laborers, government conspiracies, financial mismanagement, racial disparity, back-stabbing, miscommunication, inequality ... this sequel to Windswept is even better than its predecessor, and I liked that one a lot!
April 30, 2016
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Great sequel to Windswept! No drop off in quality.
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Great sequel to Windswept! No drop off in quality.
July 26, 2016
I love this series. I love the fast paced, witty writing, and I wish we could count on padhma for decades. Looking forward to the next and final installment.
February 23, 2017
I love when Sci-Fi reflects the struggles and difficulties of everyday life. This is that kind of Sci-Fi. I give this book my highest recommendation.
September 27, 2018
I got the sense from reading this one that it was the success of the first book that inspired this one, rather than the story arc. Or perhaps it was the added pressure of that success – but whatever the reason, this book lacked the impact and sheer energy of Windswept. However, given I absolutely loved the first book, I was perfectly happy to read something along the same lines, even if it was a paler, saner version. Padma is now involved in trying to sort out the economy after those arranged against this plucky little colony want to see if fail…
While the scenario of the entrepreneurial individual ranged against the uncaring corporation is a regular theme within science fiction, it rarely takes centre stage – and kudos to Rakunas for making this the main engine of this story. However, his handling of some of the characters didn’t quite work for me – particularly Evanrute Saarien. He was the big, bad villain in the first book, who clearly wanted Padma dead – and his willingness to allow her to thump him, while having two huge bodyguards right alongside, simply didn’t convince. I couldn’t see any force on any planet allowing someone with such a huge ego permitting that to happen without there being retaliation. Similarly, I wasn’t convinced when the main antagonist was revealed, either. If they had wanted to effect such a major change, I don’t feel they would have waited such a long time before putting in place their plan.
Although I had these reservations, they weren’t dealbreakers. Because the main character, Padma, was still engrossing and unstoppable and I have a soft spot for the amazing world Rakunas has created. I hope if he returns to this world, however, he gives himself sufficient time to ensure the story arc involving the main supporting characters also are as strong as the worldbuilding and that extraordinary protagonist. Recommended for fans of colony world adventures.
7/10
While the scenario of the entrepreneurial individual ranged against the uncaring corporation is a regular theme within science fiction, it rarely takes centre stage – and kudos to Rakunas for making this the main engine of this story. However, his handling of some of the characters didn’t quite work for me – particularly Evanrute Saarien. He was the big, bad villain in the first book, who clearly wanted Padma dead – and his willingness to allow her to thump him, while having two huge bodyguards right alongside, simply didn’t convince. I couldn’t see any force on any planet allowing someone with such a huge ego permitting that to happen without there being retaliation. Similarly, I wasn’t convinced when the main antagonist was revealed, either. If they had wanted to effect such a major change, I don’t feel they would have waited such a long time before putting in place their plan.
Although I had these reservations, they weren’t dealbreakers. Because the main character, Padma, was still engrossing and unstoppable and I have a soft spot for the amazing world Rakunas has created. I hope if he returns to this world, however, he gives himself sufficient time to ensure the story arc involving the main supporting characters also are as strong as the worldbuilding and that extraordinary protagonist. Recommended for fans of colony world adventures.
7/10
September 26, 2018
In the sequel to
Windswept
, former labor organizer Padma Mehta is now the happy owner of a rum distillery and the unhappy scrubber of Santee Anchorage's septic system, working forever to pay off the debt from the damage she caused in the first book in this series. (Never mind that she saved the planet and possibly human civilization; people gotta get paid.) Things seem to be going well until she learns that no one is showing up to work at her refinery, and that's only the tip of the labor stoppages sweeping the planet.
Rakunas's second novel leans heavily into its pro-union message while at the same time showing what happens when a union (or any organization for that matter) breaks down, and when those who purport to work for the goals of the organization care more about maintaining the organization's status quo. Rakunas also continues to develop one of the most culturally diverse milieus in SF while also focusing on another facet of his heroine - her battle with mental illness.
Whatever the struggle, Padma Mehta is definitely a character you want to have at your side. Like a Boss is still as action-packed as its predecessor, but on the whole is better paced and more thoughtful. I hope there's more of this series to come.
Rakunas's second novel leans heavily into its pro-union message while at the same time showing what happens when a union (or any organization for that matter) breaks down, and when those who purport to work for the goals of the organization care more about maintaining the organization's status quo. Rakunas also continues to develop one of the most culturally diverse milieus in SF while also focusing on another facet of his heroine - her battle with mental illness.
Whatever the struggle, Padma Mehta is definitely a character you want to have at your side. Like a Boss is still as action-packed as its predecessor, but on the whole is better paced and more thoughtful. I hope there's more of this series to come.
April 15, 2019
Even better than the first, and for me, more believable because the heroine’s not battling some superhuman ghost in the sky this time. It felt less adventure movie.
The heroine is maybe in her mid-40s (yay) not the YA kid you see on the cover. Which makes her smarter and tougher because experience. She’s also one of the few truly extroverted heroines I think I’ve ever read. She’s so good at talking with and listening to people, all sorts of people and pretty much continually.
I really enjoy how much she loves her city. That resonated like crazy with me. And I liked how this is post-capitalist fiction with sincerity but without the dreadful earnestness that most union organizers I know tend to carry around. There’s a cynicism and gentle humor here, mingling with ethics.
So, it’s a socialist adventure with lots of fine side characters in a city I can see loving.
The heroine is maybe in her mid-40s (yay) not the YA kid you see on the cover. Which makes her smarter and tougher because experience. She’s also one of the few truly extroverted heroines I think I’ve ever read. She’s so good at talking with and listening to people, all sorts of people and pretty much continually.
I really enjoy how much she loves her city. That resonated like crazy with me. And I liked how this is post-capitalist fiction with sincerity but without the dreadful earnestness that most union organizers I know tend to carry around. There’s a cynicism and gentle humor here, mingling with ethics.
So, it’s a socialist adventure with lots of fine side characters in a city I can see loving.
September 17, 2022
Another fun one! I enjoy Rakunas's focus on labor rights and organization throughout this two-novel series. In this one's Acknowledgments section at the end of the book, he suggests the possibility of a third novel, but I have seen no news thus far. If he is writing a third, I'll definitely buy it. This is a science fiction series but grounded in current political issues. Given that they are same issues humanity has been wrestling with since the first histories were written, it does not seem outside the realm of possibility that they would still be issues in the future. Some SF imagines either a dystopian hellscape or utopian paradise. Rakunas's future is very similar to our present day, but with computers in our eyeballs. I really enjoyed it.
December 11, 2019
It was an ok sequel, but compared to the first book i was much disappointed. It wasn't even close as funny as the first book, also the plot kept dragging on without much happening. Still, this was an audio book, a graphic audio production actually which in of itself is always awesome and deserves a 4 🌟 rating just due to that. I love their work and will continue to lusten to their audio books productions. They even started making their own material, script and all. Highly recommend them.
February 18, 2020
Interesting colonialism critique, from a futuristic perspective. It's a little hard to read at first, given the larger world, but it integrates the technology into the story without over explaining it. Could the policy of radical honesty and worker solidarity work in the real world? Hard to say.
I wouldn't recommend this to most people, as the social class critique / sci-fi novel fan niche is fairly small.
I wouldn't recommend this to most people, as the social class critique / sci-fi novel fan niche is fairly small.
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