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Planet Pirates #2
The Death of Sleep
THE DISASTER IN SPACE DIDN'T KILL HER, IT JUST STOLE HER LIFE. Lunzie Mespil is a victim of cryogenic sleep and future shock. On three separate occasions following a deep-space disaster, she is placed in suspended animation totaling almost 90 years while awaiting rescue. She has lost not just her friends and loved ones, but everything familiar to her, being reborn to a world she never made, a world that has grown strangely dark and dangerous during her long sleep. She struggles against adversity as she tries to put her life back together.
Because her medical knowledge is obsolete, Lunzie returns to school and becomes the medical officer, a combination of doctor and psychiatrist, on an exploratory vessel for the Federation of Sentient Planets. While routinely surveying the prehistoric life of the planet Ireta, she is caught in the middle of a violent racial mutiny. Like every other citizen of the Federation of Sentient Planets, Lunzie Mespil believed that no harm would come to her, but when the planet pirates attack the space liner on which she is a passenger, she might have to suffer more than just inconvenience.
Because her medical knowledge is obsolete, Lunzie returns to school and becomes the medical officer, a combination of doctor and psychiatrist, on an exploratory vessel for the Federation of Sentient Planets. While routinely surveying the prehistoric life of the planet Ireta, she is caught in the middle of a violent racial mutiny. Like every other citizen of the Federation of Sentient Planets, Lunzie Mespil believed that no harm would come to her, but when the planet pirates attack the space liner on which she is a passenger, she might have to suffer more than just inconvenience.
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First published June 1, 1990
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About the author
Anne McCaffrey
478 books7,754 followersAnne Inez McCaffrey was an American writer known for the Dragonriders of Pern science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction (Best Novella, Weyr Search, 1968) and the first to win a Nebula Award (Best Novella, Dragonrider, 1969). Her 1978 novel The White Dragon became one of the first science-fiction books to appear on the New York Times Best Seller list.
In 2005 the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named McCaffrey its 22nd Grand Master, an annual award to living writers of fantasy and science fiction. She was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame on 17 June 2006. She also received the Robert A. Heinlein Award for her work in 2007.
In 2005 the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named McCaffrey its 22nd Grand Master, an annual award to living writers of fantasy and science fiction. She was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame on 17 June 2006. She also received the Robert A. Heinlein Award for her work in 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 125 reviews
July 7, 2011
It was an interesting book, with some fascinating premises about space travel and it's impact on family and relationships, but I never liked the main character, Lunzie. The first half of the book was spent searching for family which she ended up despising, then the second half of the book was about mutiny and space pirates where she went back into cold sleep again as a solution. Throwing Lunzie into situations that could only be escaped by sleeping made for a rather dull adventure. In the end, nothing was truly resolved.
One could argue that this was a middle book intended to be resolved in another book, but that doesn't make for a satisfying read.
I was also troubled by the mixed message on racism and prejudice. Lunzie hated heavyworlders, which earned her more than a few lectures, yet heavyworlders were the constant bad guys. They were often portrayed by the authors as ignorant, burly, excessively violent savages, so the reader was led to dislike them. Then the reader was chastised constantly for judging the heavyworlders everytime Lunzie was chastised. In fact, we were told to not be prejudiced against all the humanoids, and even intelligent triangles. However, it was perfectly fine to detest conservatives—Lunzie's "shallow", capitalistic descendants. That message was pounded in several times. It's also OK to despise scrawny, infirm people because they are secretly pirates.
Is prejudice wrong or not? Why lecture the reader about the issue if you fall back on the traditional method of describing bad guys as physically deformed and grotesque? Is the message: "Being prejudiced against people who are different from you is wrong, unless they are greedy, disgusting conservatives. Ptui! Ptui!" I remain baffled.
One could argue that this was a middle book intended to be resolved in another book, but that doesn't make for a satisfying read.
I was also troubled by the mixed message on racism and prejudice. Lunzie hated heavyworlders, which earned her more than a few lectures, yet heavyworlders were the constant bad guys. They were often portrayed by the authors as ignorant, burly, excessively violent savages, so the reader was led to dislike them. Then the reader was chastised constantly for judging the heavyworlders everytime Lunzie was chastised. In fact, we were told to not be prejudiced against all the humanoids, and even intelligent triangles. However, it was perfectly fine to detest conservatives—Lunzie's "shallow", capitalistic descendants. That message was pounded in several times. It's also OK to despise scrawny, infirm people because they are secretly pirates.
Is prejudice wrong or not? Why lecture the reader about the issue if you fall back on the traditional method of describing bad guys as physically deformed and grotesque? Is the message: "Being prejudiced against people who are different from you is wrong, unless they are greedy, disgusting conservatives. Ptui! Ptui!" I remain baffled.
September 12, 2012
Depending upon what way you look at it, this is either the first or the second book in the trilogy. Either way it is well worth the read. This was written back in the day when Anne McCaffrey was fostering new authors, and co-authoring books with them. Ah, the last glory days of Anne McCaffrey before the slide in quality she finally started to have in her writing.
At any rate, this is a great book typical of this era of science fiction writing, and has long been one of my favorites. I actually own a copy of this book, but it is currently buried in storage so I checked out a copy from the library instead of trying to dig it out of storage. Books like this I tend to return to every few years simply because they are such a joy for me to read. They aren't heavy on the military or the combat, though there is some of both, and are heavy on character interaction and character growth, both of which are things I tend to enjoy in my reading material.
At any rate, this is a great book typical of this era of science fiction writing, and has long been one of my favorites. I actually own a copy of this book, but it is currently buried in storage so I checked out a copy from the library instead of trying to dig it out of storage. Books like this I tend to return to every few years simply because they are such a joy for me to read. They aren't heavy on the military or the combat, though there is some of both, and are heavy on character interaction and character growth, both of which are things I tend to enjoy in my reading material.
January 17, 2016
Very slow, I nearly gave up on it.
February 19, 2021
I had hopes this would be a bad vintage sci fi read based solely on the cover and boy did it deliver. As with most bad books there is always a new angle to the badness to enjoy that stands out from previous bad reads. All bad books are bad in their own way. One of the things I love about them.
The first half of this book is a dragging, detail-suffocated, authorial self indulgence so bogged down in worldbuilding that its like passing a ten mile long derailed train. You can’t look away. You are bored out of your mind and despise the main character but you are entranced. How? How did this book get published?
And the worldbuilding is barely interesting when it isn’t Star Trek classic lite redux. Of all the possible things to invent and outcomes of them, this book finds and fixates on the most inane.
The protagonist is obnoxiously full of herself. That would be fine if it was an intent of literature, but this is supposed to be a likable reader insert. Ouch. The one or two potentially interesting issues the book does try to explore are ruined by the intolerant, boneheaded narrator. If you have a clash of viewpoints in a story, they both have to be handled with honesty and sympathy by the author. The author just sinks into UG BAD.
So, like all bad books, this one can’t stay bad along consistent lines. The author has to put the book down for a while and then pick it up and start writing a different book. Which is good because it was really dragging at the halfway point. The author tries to have something actually happen and boy do things get worse. From a slogging drag we emerge into poorly thought out and badly described action scenes. Built on contrived and not even slightly believable plot points. All of a sudden there is a threat to the main character. Of course, one that elevates her to a Wesley Crusher hero spy fantasy level. But without any skill in writing the spy genre, or a believable motivation, or use of technology, or politics, or military command structure...
Even in the context of bad sci fi nothing that happens is believable in this book. Which is a depth of badness I do love to see plumbed.
Then in the last 1/4 of the book, we sort of have a plot arc starting. Again, the pointless details nearly crowd out what little there is. And as before, there is little actual rational action by any characters. And so many new characters. 40 pages from the end and it’s page after page of new characters. It’s really something to behold.
The last 1/4 also ices the cake by becoming sloppy and unedited. To the level of not fully switching what might have been first person, originally. Because how else could it top what came before if it dares introduce a plot? MWAH. Beautiful. A gem.
The first half of this book is a dragging, detail-suffocated, authorial self indulgence so bogged down in worldbuilding that its like passing a ten mile long derailed train. You can’t look away. You are bored out of your mind and despise the main character but you are entranced. How? How did this book get published?
And the worldbuilding is barely interesting when it isn’t Star Trek classic lite redux. Of all the possible things to invent and outcomes of them, this book finds and fixates on the most inane.
The protagonist is obnoxiously full of herself. That would be fine if it was an intent of literature, but this is supposed to be a likable reader insert. Ouch. The one or two potentially interesting issues the book does try to explore are ruined by the intolerant, boneheaded narrator. If you have a clash of viewpoints in a story, they both have to be handled with honesty and sympathy by the author. The author just sinks into UG BAD.
So, like all bad books, this one can’t stay bad along consistent lines. The author has to put the book down for a while and then pick it up and start writing a different book. Which is good because it was really dragging at the halfway point. The author tries to have something actually happen and boy do things get worse. From a slogging drag we emerge into poorly thought out and badly described action scenes. Built on contrived and not even slightly believable plot points. All of a sudden there is a threat to the main character. Of course, one that elevates her to a Wesley Crusher hero spy fantasy level. But without any skill in writing the spy genre, or a believable motivation, or use of technology, or politics, or military command structure...
Even in the context of bad sci fi nothing that happens is believable in this book. Which is a depth of badness I do love to see plumbed.
Then in the last 1/4 of the book, we sort of have a plot arc starting. Again, the pointless details nearly crowd out what little there is. And as before, there is little actual rational action by any characters. And so many new characters. 40 pages from the end and it’s page after page of new characters. It’s really something to behold.
The last 1/4 also ices the cake by becoming sloppy and unedited. To the level of not fully switching what might have been first person, originally. Because how else could it top what came before if it dares introduce a plot? MWAH. Beautiful. A gem.
July 15, 2013
The Death of Sleep by Anne McCaffrey and Jody Lynn Nye is the second book in the Planet Pirates series set in the Ireta Universe. The main character in this book is Lunzie Mespila medic who is mentioned in each of the previous three books in this universe. This book deals with the backstory which occurs before the events which are detailed in Dinosaur Planet. The story begins as Lunzie takes a job as a doctor on a asteroid mining platform leaving her daughter behind. However the ship has an accident and she is left in cold sleep for sixty two years. The main theme of the story is the way that in many ways the fact that she leaves society for such large time periods it is like everything which she connects to dies and she must constantly find herself adopting to new worlds and finding her place in them. While I have never been left out of time like she has I can connect to the difficulty of adopting into a different society as where I grew up was much different than the urban society I live in today. While many would say that where I live now is not really foreign to me it seems almost more exotic than the land of Korea where I lived for some months. In this story Lunzie has multiple times where she is pushed back in time but she discovers that some places are not meant for her even though they are livable. I disagreed at times which the very insulting way that the urban conservatives where portrayed but I can see many of the problems in those who I interact with today. People have a tendency to push for meaningless goals and have lives pushing for unneeded things. In the book duty to society calls Lunzie to live a more full life and maybe some day I will also find some society which is worth serving.
February 18, 2019
The Death of Sleep (1990) by Anne McCaffrey and Jody Lynn Nye is a fine example of a well written literary catastrophe. This is a book that failed in the outline. No matter how well written, how sincere, the fundamental underpinnings of the story were weak. The outline felt like a novella stretched and ballooned into a vast, empty container filled with words. After reaching the end, the story must have been too short because the left chapter felt tacked on feeling like a rip from Dinosaur Planet, one of McCaffrey's worst novels.
There could have been an interesting novel here if they'd let the novel lead itself.
The story involves a woman who gets trapped in cold sleep then awakened a hundred years later. This is a very standard Rip Van Winkle setup. This story gives us the chance to see the galaxy afresh, through new eyes, to understand the changes. Instead, this character goes off to college to relearn her skills, meets some uninteresting characters, had no adventures, and generally walks through the outline to no merit. Where's the heart? There's no heart.
The world depicted in the story feels very generic. There's nothing that makes this story click. The setting isn't a character. I barely had any idea what made each race or type of people distinct.
My respects to everyone involved, but this book is a skipper. If you must read, skim. It's over faster that way.
There could have been an interesting novel here if they'd let the novel lead itself.
The story involves a woman who gets trapped in cold sleep then awakened a hundred years later. This is a very standard Rip Van Winkle setup. This story gives us the chance to see the galaxy afresh, through new eyes, to understand the changes. Instead, this character goes off to college to relearn her skills, meets some uninteresting characters, had no adventures, and generally walks through the outline to no merit. Where's the heart? There's no heart.
The world depicted in the story feels very generic. There's nothing that makes this story click. The setting isn't a character. I barely had any idea what made each race or type of people distinct.
My respects to everyone involved, but this book is a skipper. If you must read, skim. It's over faster that way.
November 5, 2013
This book started with an interesting premise, but it all went downhill from there. The woman gets stranded in time several times due to cold sleep malfunction, which is so extremely unlikely that is sticks out as the mere plot point that it is. Secondly, the story fails to deliver audience expectation - that is, does she get reunited with her daughter? At first we see she'll do whatever it takes to find her, then halfway through the book she inexplicably gives up. After that the novel makes no sense, as the plot tries to go in a new direction, which was a totally bad idea, and fails anyway. I got very lost and bored and listened to most if the book on double speed just to get through it.
April 21, 2008
An immensely silly book, in my opinion--I got halfway through it and realized I'd read it before. The main character goes into cold sleep, wakes up, goes back, wakes up--has some mildly interesting implications, but mostly just pedestrian science fiction.
February 4, 2022
Notes during reading. Fell asleep a couple of times while listening.
Romance in Space with ninja spies. I enjoyed this much less than Sassinak. Ends just before the end of Sassinak in terms of plot, so basically all backstory.
The idea of synthetic stuff is weirdly energy intensive. Instead of washing clothes (or some electrostatic cleaning), they are disassembled and rewoven. All seams are apparently magnetically sealed. Food is created from hydroponically grown "carbohydrates" that are dumped into the synthesizers instead of using the efficient synthesizers embedded in the human body.
1. Boring.
2. Some boring sex.
3. Someone is having a heart attack and Lunzie the Dr (from the future, remember) says “I’ll give him some vitamins”. Vitamins? What about some f’ing NITROGLYCERIN? And aspirin? (I don’t know if the mortality reducing effect of aspirin was known in the 90s, but nitroglycerin has been standard treatment for chest pain for decades.)
4. Boring.
5. She picks the cheap transport then complains about her fate?
6. The time issues aren’t fully developed. Lunzie is in cold sleep (part 2) for 10 years. Fiona waited nearly 2 years to leave for Eridani, and "might not have arrived yet" at the end of that 10 year period. So, 8 years at near light speed? Or 8 years at FTL? What happens to time relativity? Elapsed time on board versus elapsed time on planet.
7. According to Wolfram Alpha, the distance between the two stars is just under 13 light years, so are they actually traveling FTL? Or between jump points?
8. Now they are talking about vegetables. Boring.
9. It’s 800 years in the future (2800+ date) and she expects people to recognize the name Carmen Miranda?
10. Her exclamation, "Oh, mullah"? What?
11. She expected T to wait through the years when she was in cold sleep? Boring.
12. She meets the young admiral and a few hours later they are talking about commitment?
13. Now, little lady, you are just overreacting. (And he’s supposed to be head of some intelligence organization? )
14. And now, we are going shopping. Boring.
15. Romance and spies in space. Plus racism and bonus homophobia.
16. Now she's added annoying to boring. She acts like a 14 year old talking to her mother.
Romance in Space with ninja spies. I enjoyed this much less than Sassinak. Ends just before the end of Sassinak in terms of plot, so basically all backstory.
The idea of synthetic stuff is weirdly energy intensive. Instead of washing clothes (or some electrostatic cleaning), they are disassembled and rewoven. All seams are apparently magnetically sealed. Food is created from hydroponically grown "carbohydrates" that are dumped into the synthesizers instead of using the efficient synthesizers embedded in the human body.
1. Boring.
2. Some boring sex.
3. Someone is having a heart attack and Lunzie the Dr (from the future, remember) says “I’ll give him some vitamins”. Vitamins? What about some f’ing NITROGLYCERIN? And aspirin? (I don’t know if the mortality reducing effect of aspirin was known in the 90s, but nitroglycerin has been standard treatment for chest pain for decades.)
4. Boring.
5. She picks the cheap transport then complains about her fate?
6. The time issues aren’t fully developed. Lunzie is in cold sleep (part 2) for 10 years. Fiona waited nearly 2 years to leave for Eridani, and "might not have arrived yet" at the end of that 10 year period. So, 8 years at near light speed? Or 8 years at FTL? What happens to time relativity? Elapsed time on board versus elapsed time on planet.
7. According to Wolfram Alpha, the distance between the two stars is just under 13 light years, so are they actually traveling FTL? Or between jump points?
8. Now they are talking about vegetables. Boring.
9. It’s 800 years in the future (2800+ date) and she expects people to recognize the name Carmen Miranda?
10. Her exclamation, "Oh, mullah"? What?
11. She expected T to wait through the years when she was in cold sleep? Boring.
12. She meets the young admiral and a few hours later they are talking about commitment?
13. Now, little lady, you are just overreacting. (And he’s supposed to be head of some intelligence organization? )
14. And now, we are going shopping. Boring.
15. Romance and spies in space. Plus racism and bonus homophobia.
16. Now she's added annoying to boring. She acts like a 14 year old talking to her mother.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2020
I loved the premise so much, but this book was surprisingly long, rambling, and so drawn out that the story thread that started Lunzie’s adventure just snapped. Suddenly it’s not important anymore that she reunite with her daughter (even though that was the point???) and when circumstances led to Tee to part ways with her, I lost all interest in finishing. Other love interests come and go during the rest of the book, but I felt that they paled in comparison to Tee. He was truly a perfect match for her, but with his exit from the story, the plot of finding her daughter also flew out the window. So maybe that’s why I find it so upsetting. It’s like a whole different book was stuffed into the last half.
I care about Lunzie enough to want know what happens to her, but I don’t know if I can handle her storyline deviating even further.
I care about Lunzie enough to want know what happens to her, but I don’t know if I can handle her storyline deviating even further.
October 6, 2013
Will Lunzie ever catch a break?! If it's not one thing, it's another. And whenever she finds a little bit of happiness, the rug gets pulled out from under her. This books ends with a major cliffhanger.
May 18, 2014
Not as good as I remember I much prefer this from the point of view offers in Dinisaur planet. Likeable Lunzie doesn't gain anything from this in depth character study except a deeper reflection of her meeting with sass.
September 4, 2009
Lousy and with a cliffhanger.
Read
June 30, 2011I always rather wondered if McCaffrey & Nye didn't snag this plotline from Aliens. More chick SF, strictly mediocre. Reads like what it is - half of a series.
March 16, 2017
This is a good example of McCaffrey at her blurst. Boring, poorly plotted story, two-dimensional characters. Just dumb.
December 25, 2024
Ahoy there mateys! I am a bit obsessed with Elizabeth Moon and pirates (Arrr!) so when I saw an omnibus of this series, I got it. All three books are contained in the omnibus (at 890 pages!). Plus I was a huge Anne McCaffrey fan when I was younger. And I read the Doona books McCaffrey co-wrote with Nye back in the day.
So this series deals with pirates that steal planets. How does one steal a planet? By secretly destroying a struggling new colony and then grabbing it for themselves. Sassinak is one of the people whose colony is overrun. She is turned into a slave, escapes, and then joins the military. Lunzie is a doctor who ends up in cold sleep and finds her world substantially changed when she is revived. The two are interconnected in multiple ways.
I won't deny that these books can be a bit hard to follow given time jumps back and forwards. Certain elements (like 20 years of Sassinak's military career) are skipped over and there are continuity problems. The first book is particularly odd as it seems like four novellas strung together. The politics are also a bit odd at times and deal with multiple races. I didn't care because the characters make it worth reading. I loved both women. The last book has some new (male) viewpoints and I liked Dupaynil's the best.
This series is messy and silly at times but overall I am glad I read it. It's not a favorite and has a lot more of the feel of Anne McCaffrey then Elizabeth Moon (who I prefer). Even though it was written in the 1990s, it somehow has an older feel. But I am glad to own it and will likely reread it in the future even if I prefer the Vatta. Arrr!
Side note: This made me look at how many books I think I read by McCaffrey and it is likely somewhere above 20 or so. I was in middle school when I started reading them and I don't remember much about most of them. This kinda makes me want to revisit them all. I need more time! Plus some of the characters return in the Dinosaur Planet series. I need even more time!
So this series deals with pirates that steal planets. How does one steal a planet? By secretly destroying a struggling new colony and then grabbing it for themselves. Sassinak is one of the people whose colony is overrun. She is turned into a slave, escapes, and then joins the military. Lunzie is a doctor who ends up in cold sleep and finds her world substantially changed when she is revived. The two are interconnected in multiple ways.
I won't deny that these books can be a bit hard to follow given time jumps back and forwards. Certain elements (like 20 years of Sassinak's military career) are skipped over and there are continuity problems. The first book is particularly odd as it seems like four novellas strung together. The politics are also a bit odd at times and deal with multiple races. I didn't care because the characters make it worth reading. I loved both women. The last book has some new (male) viewpoints and I liked Dupaynil's the best.
This series is messy and silly at times but overall I am glad I read it. It's not a favorite and has a lot more of the feel of Anne McCaffrey then Elizabeth Moon (who I prefer). Even though it was written in the 1990s, it somehow has an older feel. But I am glad to own it and will likely reread it in the future even if I prefer the Vatta. Arrr!
Side note: This made me look at how many books I think I read by McCaffrey and it is likely somewhere above 20 or so. I was in middle school when I started reading them and I don't remember much about most of them. This kinda makes me want to revisit them all. I need more time! Plus some of the characters return in the Dinosaur Planet series. I need even more time!
January 14, 2018
This is the second book in the Planet Pirate series. This one is by Anne McCaffrey and Jody Lynn Nye. This book is an excellent read in the Space Opera genre. It is very reminiscence Of Robert A. Heinlein in his prime. Although this is the second book in this series I recommend reading it before reading the first book, Sassinak. The first book is divided into four sections and I gave the first three sections a good review but I said that the story line wanders and doesn't hold together in the last section. This book takes place before the events in the first book and explains everything that section four of Sassinak didn't make clear. In this one Lunzie Mespil is a victim of cold sleep and future shock. On three separate occasions following a deep-space disaster she is placed in cold sleep totaling almost 90 years while awaiting rescue. She has lost not just her friends and loved ones, but everything familiar to her. Her story is a study of struggle against adversity as she tries to put her life back together. Because her medical knowledge is obsolete, Lunzie returns to school and becomes the medical officer on an exploratory vessel for the Federation of Sentient Planets. While routinely surveying the prehistoric life of the planet Ireta, she is caught in the middle of a violent racial mutiny. To save herself and her friends she must face cold sleep yet again! I recommend reading this book and Sassinak. Just read this one first!
June 9, 2023
While I enjoyed Lunzie as a character, this felt like lot a lot of repetition – across the series and in the actual book.
The general gist of Lunzie's life is already described in Sassinak, which ruined any suspense and made it feel like I was waiting forever to get to the actual meat of the story; the ending is essentially a shorter perspective of Dinosaur Planet, to the point it almost felt like we were getting a diarised version of events in the last few pages; and poor Lunzie goes through the same catastrophe too many times for it to be dramatic.
My favourite parts were the moments that we hadn't already read in previous books – seeing what life was like on the lower decks of an exploration spaceship, and military-corporate espionage – but these made up so little of the latter part of the book I don't think I'd recommend this if you've read any of the earlier books in this world.
I will give props to Jody Lynn Nye, whose writing fit in with the previous book very well. Though her characterisation is slightly different to Moon's Lunzie it's not enough to make me doubt they could be the same character.
The general gist of Lunzie's life is already described in Sassinak, which ruined any suspense and made it feel like I was waiting forever to get to the actual meat of the story; the ending is essentially a shorter perspective of Dinosaur Planet, to the point it almost felt like we were getting a diarised version of events in the last few pages; and poor Lunzie goes through the same catastrophe too many times for it to be dramatic.
My favourite parts were the moments that we hadn't already read in previous books – seeing what life was like on the lower decks of an exploration spaceship, and military-corporate espionage – but these made up so little of the latter part of the book I don't think I'd recommend this if you've read any of the earlier books in this world.
I will give props to Jody Lynn Nye, whose writing fit in with the previous book very well. Though her characterisation is slightly different to Moon's Lunzie it's not enough to make me doubt they could be the same character.
September 23, 2018
A premise, but no plot/ conflict. The story gets going, then Lunzie goes into deep sleep, only to awake later in a changed world. More than twice.
That’s not even a good premise after the first go-round. Repeating it did not improve it. The goal to find her daughter that seems to drive the narrative at the beginning is waved aside halfway through the book. Easy reading, yes, but pretty boring. The characters existed to fill the plot rather than the reverse.
In theory the previous book (about her descendant) and other books in the series round out the plot, but I find the politics so vague I don’t care at all. If this didn’t have McCaffrey’s name on it I don’t know that it would have been published. Cherryh or MacMaster Bujold are better bets for this kind of thing.
Plus, being published in 1991... the predictions about personal computing are based in that time and seem waaaay off (computer labs as the norm for society).
Honestly, 2/3 of the way through and I just skipped to the end, then decided not to spend more time.
That’s not even a good premise after the first go-round. Repeating it did not improve it. The goal to find her daughter that seems to drive the narrative at the beginning is waved aside halfway through the book. Easy reading, yes, but pretty boring. The characters existed to fill the plot rather than the reverse.
In theory the previous book (about her descendant) and other books in the series round out the plot, but I find the politics so vague I don’t care at all. If this didn’t have McCaffrey’s name on it I don’t know that it would have been published. Cherryh or MacMaster Bujold are better bets for this kind of thing.
Plus, being published in 1991... the predictions about personal computing are based in that time and seem waaaay off (computer labs as the norm for society).
Honestly, 2/3 of the way through and I just skipped to the end, then decided not to spend more time.
October 15, 2021
I find myself much more critical when rereading books from my youth. This one didn't stand the test well. Lunzie is intolerant and unlikable. Although she is supposed to be excellent at psychology and trauma, she never gets help with her irrational hatred of heavyworlders. When the love of her life moves on with someone new, she basically shrugs and jumps on a convenient man (who is also extremely unlikable as well as arrogant). After spending years obsessed with tracing her descendants, she only stays a few days before dipping out (leaving the reader with a mass character introduction and zero development).
Did they switch authors at the halfway point? Massive switch from personal story arc to space pirate conspiracy. And it's a poorly executed conspiracy: why are these pragmatic and successful pirates so focused on eliminating a messenger who has already delivered her intel? Not to mention sending an easily recognized personal attendant as an assassin, thus outing his previously unsuspected pirate ties?
This one goes in the donate pile.
Did they switch authors at the halfway point? Massive switch from personal story arc to space pirate conspiracy. And it's a poorly executed conspiracy: why are these pragmatic and successful pirates so focused on eliminating a messenger who has already delivered her intel? Not to mention sending an easily recognized personal attendant as an assassin, thus outing his previously unsuspected pirate ties?
This one goes in the donate pile.
September 20, 2024
This book was pretty boring with barely any interesting characters. Lunzie was an alright character but most of the things that she did were not exciting. I like Zebara towards the end and that showed some potential for an interesting plot but then that ended and Lunzie went on to some other mission that was boring.
The plot of this book was also very strange. Lunzie spends a good half of the book trying to get back to her daughter after a cold sleep accident. She never gets to connect with her, but instead meets the extended family. Lunzie decides she really doesn't like her extended family and stops looking for her daughter altogether. Then she spends the second half of the book being a sort of spy and joining random missions. It was really jarring to switch between the two completely different plots in the same book and it was a weird transition. I ended up skimming the last third of the book because I was just so bored and wanted to get on to the next book.
2/5 stars, boring. Hopefully the other books in the Planet Pirate series are more exciting.
The plot of this book was also very strange. Lunzie spends a good half of the book trying to get back to her daughter after a cold sleep accident. She never gets to connect with her, but instead meets the extended family. Lunzie decides she really doesn't like her extended family and stops looking for her daughter altogether. Then she spends the second half of the book being a sort of spy and joining random missions. It was really jarring to switch between the two completely different plots in the same book and it was a weird transition. I ended up skimming the last third of the book because I was just so bored and wanted to get on to the next book.
2/5 stars, boring. Hopefully the other books in the Planet Pirate series are more exciting.
December 29, 2024
This book is written episodically, with each section ending much the same way. The episodes are intentionally connected only loosely, but the result is a choppy narrative that is less compelling than it might be.
This problem is compounded by the protagonist having only limited agency, and by the abrupt ending, with the result that the book was difficult to like.
On the opposite side of the coin, the individual vignettes exposed an interesting world and the conceit of cryogenic sleep's effect on a person's life was examined fairly well.
One element of the second story that annoyed me was the asteroid belt that was so dense as to limit visibility and make it possible to lose track of the main station in the system. We have seen nothing even approaching that kind of density yet, and it strikes me as really improbable, given the mechanisms whereby debris belts tend to reduce in density over time and the size of a stellar system. This was only a small part of the book, but I found it annoying enough to mention.
Not recommended.
This problem is compounded by the protagonist having only limited agency, and by the abrupt ending, with the result that the book was difficult to like.
On the opposite side of the coin, the individual vignettes exposed an interesting world and the conceit of cryogenic sleep's effect on a person's life was examined fairly well.
One element of the second story that annoyed me was the asteroid belt that was so dense as to limit visibility and make it possible to lose track of the main station in the system. We have seen nothing even approaching that kind of density yet, and it strikes me as really improbable, given the mechanisms whereby debris belts tend to reduce in density over time and the size of a stellar system. This was only a small part of the book, but I found it annoying enough to mention.
Not recommended.
July 30, 2021
This was a great read. With it being the second of the Planet Pirates series, this was similar in layout the first, with the point of view being Lunzie, this time, instead of Sassinak.
I think with it being from a singular viewpoint, this story was actually just as riveting as the first. As with Sassinak's story, It was great to read about Lunzie's back story and, with everything she went through, I had to feel sorry for the way in which circumstances forced her to lose so much time - to the point that she became younger than her granddaughter - not something easy to get over, I'm sure.
I was also pleased that, as with Sassinak's story, when it got to the part involving Ireta, the plot was skimmed over in a way that I wasn't reading it all again for the third time - and it ended really well at a point in time that will make reading the third, and last book in the series, a pleasure, too.
So, it's on to: Generation Warriors, to see how Lunzie's and Sassinak's story ends!
I think with it being from a singular viewpoint, this story was actually just as riveting as the first. As with Sassinak's story, It was great to read about Lunzie's back story and, with everything she went through, I had to feel sorry for the way in which circumstances forced her to lose so much time - to the point that she became younger than her granddaughter - not something easy to get over, I'm sure.
I was also pleased that, as with Sassinak's story, when it got to the part involving Ireta, the plot was skimmed over in a way that I wasn't reading it all again for the third time - and it ended really well at a point in time that will make reading the third, and last book in the series, a pleasure, too.
So, it's on to: Generation Warriors, to see how Lunzie's and Sassinak's story ends!
July 26, 2022
One of this book's reoccurring themes is the MC's bigotry to heavyworlders. Heavyworlders are humans who have been genetically altered to withstand worlds with higher gravity and are seven (7) feet tall. The MC is constantly terrified of these beings that are described as giants, but they are only seven (7) feet tall. It is lubricious!
Combined with the fact that almost all of the books problems could be solved by consulting security camera footage, this book can not be taken seriously. You expect me to believe people are being murdered on a space ship and the suspected killers are let go because they alibied each other and there is no way to tell if they were lying or not? Supplies are being stolen and your only solution is to have two little kids run a checkout system while doing their homework?
The book ends in obvious attempt at sequel baiting, but it just feels like the character didn't actually progress at all during the course of the book.
Combined with the fact that almost all of the books problems could be solved by consulting security camera footage, this book can not be taken seriously. You expect me to believe people are being murdered on a space ship and the suspected killers are let go because they alibied each other and there is no way to tell if they were lying or not? Supplies are being stolen and your only solution is to have two little kids run a checkout system while doing their homework?
The book ends in obvious attempt at sequel baiting, but it just feels like the character didn't actually progress at all during the course of the book.
April 2, 2023
This book appears to exist within the same universe as the Pern series, but never references Pern. This likely takes place many many years before a probe searched Pern?
I happened into this book on book number 2. It's a 3 parter, with starts and stops and ends on what is either a cliff hanger going to book 3, or something that just makes this book a tragedy all together.
Some of the premise at the end of the third section is very similar to the mutiny that later happens on Pern when it is first colonized.
Possibly unusual, this book features a sex scene. Having read all 21+ of the Pern books and the Crystal singer books, I can't recall any with the level of detail this one covered. The dragonrider series didn't shy from sex or sexuality, but they never went into great detail either. This also is not terribly detailed, but it left a lot less to the imagination. (none of this is a criticism just unusual either in style or maybe in what editors allowed).
I happened into this book on book number 2. It's a 3 parter, with starts and stops and ends on what is either a cliff hanger going to book 3, or something that just makes this book a tragedy all together.
Some of the premise at the end of the third section is very similar to the mutiny that later happens on Pern when it is first colonized.
Possibly unusual, this book features a sex scene. Having read all 21+ of the Pern books and the Crystal singer books, I can't recall any with the level of detail this one covered. The dragonrider series didn't shy from sex or sexuality, but they never went into great detail either. This also is not terribly detailed, but it left a lot less to the imagination. (none of this is a criticism just unusual either in style or maybe in what editors allowed).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2023
Review for the series as a whole. An excellent science fiction introduction. It's very heavy at the beginning with a colony raid by pirates, and slavery, but thankfully was not as graphic as it needed to be. The Discipline as a method of ensuring action was a good enough counterpoint to the skills Sassinak displayed after her captivity. Her relationship with Abe and his death was well done and hit hard. The various introduced aliens, including the pyramid Thek and heavyworlder humans was well done. The entirety of Sassinak's career along with the back-story with her great-great-great grandmother Lunzie as a young doctor was amazingly well done. The conclusion with the attempted coup was good, but had a bit of deus ex machina with the Thek actions.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 24, 2018
It's been quite some time since I dived into some hard sci-fi. It felt good. I need to read more. I enjoyed this read more than I thought I would because I've been having trouble getting into the voice in older novels as of late. "The Death of Sleep" could have been written today with its third person limited perspective that kept me engaged with Lunzie, the main character. The book is divided into sections giving it more of a multiple novella feel. I give it a four star over a five for one reason: the ending wasn't satisfying. I see that it's a book two, however, so everything might be summed up in the next installment.
February 5, 2021
The story of Lunzie Mespil who has the misfortune to end up in cold sleep for many years so her daughter is now a great (or great great?) grandmother when Lunzie is still in her 30’s physically. Lunzie copes with the problems well, while looking for her daughter and rebuilding her life. The problem is her daughter is reported as one of the people lost when the planet Phoenix is recolonised by a new group - it is thought Planet pirates have been involved.
August 14, 2023
I see this as a prelude to Sassinak, #1 in the Planet Pirates series, and as such it fills a role. However, I think it is too long, a bit repepetitous and less focused than its predecessor. I will read #3 in the hope that focus returns to the writing.
December 13, 2023
Audio, narrated by Gabrielle de Cuir
When I started this, I was disappointed it didn’t follow Sassinak, but I grew to like and enjoy Lunsie. It helped the excellent narrator was the same.
However, as one reviewer noted, this book was very slow. Most of the action was internal; it wasn’t until the last few chapters that anything outside of Lunsie’s smart and busy head happened. The book ended very abruptly and I was left disappointed and with a lot of questions.
When I started this, I was disappointed it didn’t follow Sassinak, but I grew to like and enjoy Lunsie. It helped the excellent narrator was the same.
However, as one reviewer noted, this book was very slow. Most of the action was internal; it wasn’t until the last few chapters that anything outside of Lunsie’s smart and busy head happened. The book ended very abruptly and I was left disappointed and with a lot of questions.
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