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Lingua Galactica
“All I ask is that I be given the same opportunities given to other officers of my rank. If I screw up, tell me. If I screw up royally, get me off your ship. But don't discard me simply because my surname is Rothko."
As communications officer and chief linguist on the U.S.S. Washington, D.C., Lieutenant Sarah Jane Rothko Krieg’s primary function is to make sure they understand what is being said to them, and that the non-Terrans understand what they are saying. Nuance is everything.
When a guest diplomat hitching a ride on the Washington decides to stalk the lieutenant as prey, nuance is not enough. Finding herself at the center of an interplanetary scandal, Lieutenant Krieg decides without hesitation she will not be a victim. Using her training, her strength, and her wits, she is determined to be the master of her own fate.
As communications officer and chief linguist on the U.S.S. Washington, D.C., Lieutenant Sarah Jane Rothko Krieg’s primary function is to make sure they understand what is being said to them, and that the non-Terrans understand what they are saying. Nuance is everything.
When a guest diplomat hitching a ride on the Washington decides to stalk the lieutenant as prey, nuance is not enough. Finding herself at the center of an interplanetary scandal, Lieutenant Krieg decides without hesitation she will not be a victim. Using her training, her strength, and her wits, she is determined to be the master of her own fate.
433 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2017
3 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
S.J. Schwaidelson
4 books13 followersNew York born, but living in Minnesota, S. J. Schwaidelson is a novelist, current events blogger, and playwright.
S. J. met her husband Ziggy at the University of Minnesota while pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater. Minnesotans don’t transplant well, so they settled in Saint Paul, his home town. After the boys were born, she concentrated on plays for children as the book creator for Schwaidelson and Waterman, Playwrights. Between plays, there were kids to raise, a husband to humor, day jobs to handle, and novels to write.
After Ziggy passed away, her alter ego began blogging. The Wifely Person Speaks has been around since 2010 and is read globally. She continues to publish her take on current events, politics, and the art of the ridiculous late on Monday nights, and has yet to skip a week.
S. J. met her husband Ziggy at the University of Minnesota while pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater. Minnesotans don’t transplant well, so they settled in Saint Paul, his home town. After the boys were born, she concentrated on plays for children as the book creator for Schwaidelson and Waterman, Playwrights. Between plays, there were kids to raise, a husband to humor, day jobs to handle, and novels to write.
After Ziggy passed away, her alter ego began blogging. The Wifely Person Speaks has been around since 2010 and is read globally. She continues to publish her take on current events, politics, and the art of the ridiculous late on Monday nights, and has yet to skip a week.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 1, 2018
This was a character driven science-fiction novel. We get to see Jane really grow from beginning to end. She's in a tough spot and has to figure out how the rest of her career is going to play out because of it, and she makes hard decisions.
One of the more interesting aspects (considering recent news) is how sexual assault is handled/not handled. I wish the fleet would've been more closely involved, but its her decision to keep it low key; she handles the perpetrator though discreet, diplomatic channels. I get that. I don't know how that would play out in real life.
At the same time, I really liked these people. The captain, Blackjack, and Belle are fully formed and artfully constructed.
If you like a good story, this is it.
Merged review:
This was a character driven science-fiction novel. We get to see Jane really grow from beginning to end. She's in a tough spot and has to figure out how the rest of her career is going to play out because of it, and she makes hard decisions.
One of the more interesting aspects (considering recent news) is how sexual assault is handled/not handled. I wish the fleet would've been more closely involved, but its her decision to keep it low key; she handles the perpetrator though discreet, diplomatic channels. I get that. I don't know how that would play out in real life.
At the same time, I really liked these people. The captain, Blackjack, and Belle are fully formed and artfully constructed.
If you like a good story, this is it.
One of the more interesting aspects (considering recent news) is how sexual assault is handled/not handled. I wish the fleet would've been more closely involved, but its her decision to keep it low key; she handles the perpetrator though discreet, diplomatic channels. I get that. I don't know how that would play out in real life.
At the same time, I really liked these people. The captain, Blackjack, and Belle are fully formed and artfully constructed.
If you like a good story, this is it.
Merged review:
This was a character driven science-fiction novel. We get to see Jane really grow from beginning to end. She's in a tough spot and has to figure out how the rest of her career is going to play out because of it, and she makes hard decisions.
One of the more interesting aspects (considering recent news) is how sexual assault is handled/not handled. I wish the fleet would've been more closely involved, but its her decision to keep it low key; she handles the perpetrator though discreet, diplomatic channels. I get that. I don't know how that would play out in real life.
At the same time, I really liked these people. The captain, Blackjack, and Belle are fully formed and artfully constructed.
If you like a good story, this is it.
November 19, 2020
This was a great read. It is not by any means great literature, and it suffered for lack of a proofreader. But, I stayed up late at night to finish the book because I just could not put it down. In the future, Earth belongs to a league of planets and our main characters are on a diplomatic star trek to a variety of worlds. What made this fun was the two main characters, the Captain of the ship and the communications officer are both Jewish and keep kosher. The captain is a former rabbi and navy chaplain, and the comms officer is a linguist and daughter of an admiral and a general. Of course they fall in love. One subplot involves the ship being recalled to Earth to help intervene when Syria rallies a few Arab countries to wage war against Israel and enlists the help of an alien race and their space ship. Great read!
December 28, 2017
The book started out well with a kick-ass, intelligent, and capable heroine.
Alas, it went downhill from there; by way of technological implausibilities, ignorance of physics, trite language, and absurd reasoning. Don’t writers use editors anymore, or are the editors simply woefully unqualified?
At the end I had exclaimed “fucking dumbass” more than a few times, and not because of grammatical errors or logical inconsistencies.
I did finish the book, however, so it must have some redeeming qualities. It is entertaining enough if you don’t think too hard about, well, anything.
Alas, it went downhill from there; by way of technological implausibilities, ignorance of physics, trite language, and absurd reasoning. Don’t writers use editors anymore, or are the editors simply woefully unqualified?
At the end I had exclaimed “fucking dumbass” more than a few times, and not because of grammatical errors or logical inconsistencies.
I did finish the book, however, so it must have some redeeming qualities. It is entertaining enough if you don’t think too hard about, well, anything.
February 20, 2021
Brilliant science fiction
I love this book, and I'm totally embarrassed that I forgot to review it. I enjoyed it so much when I read it on KU that I immediately bought it to have to reread. Also, I rushed to Facebook to tell the author and all my friends how much I love this book. And then I forgot to write a review. The world building is phenomenal, the characters are people I wish I could call friends, and the romance is believable and perfect. This book is the kind of science fiction I wish I could find to read all the time. Thank you, S.J. Schwaidelson.
I love this book, and I'm totally embarrassed that I forgot to review it. I enjoyed it so much when I read it on KU that I immediately bought it to have to reread. Also, I rushed to Facebook to tell the author and all my friends how much I love this book. And then I forgot to write a review. The world building is phenomenal, the characters are people I wish I could call friends, and the romance is believable and perfect. This book is the kind of science fiction I wish I could find to read all the time. Thank you, S.J. Schwaidelson.
November 25, 2021
This was a fun read and it was really nice to see co-religionists that I could identify with in the book. Part of the plot was a bit of a stretch, but I can understand why the author made it. What’s annoying though, is that the Kindle Unlimited edition had A good amount of spelling and punctuation errors that annoyed me so much I finally started reporting them. I hope they can get fixed - it will make the read a lot easier.
March 11, 2023
DNF at 11%. I picked this book from a list with recommendations for linguistics in scifi. Going by the blurb I didn't expect religion and Middle Eastern politics. I would rather have the opportunity to decide to read about these topics. Didn't appreciate being surprised.
I might pick up this book again another time, when I'm not so displeased anymore.
I might pick up this book again another time, when I'm not so displeased anymore.
decided-not-to-read
February 12, 2018A sci-fi novel by an acquaintance. I liked the setup, involving the linguists needed on space exploration ships, & I read about half of the book. But the characters became too predictable, so I decided not to finish.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews