Fragments

Dragonfire Station #2

by Zen DiPietro

Fallon and her team need answers. But before they can storm the PAC base on Earth, they need to find supplies and deal with Fallon’s memory loss. Her strange dreams sure aren’t helping matters. If they’re memories that her brain is trying to reconstruct, her brain is just going to have to work harder at making some sense.

Either way, once they arrive at Earth, all bets are off. As soon as they steal the information they need, it will be kill or be killed.

Elite intelligence operations don’t issue polite warnings.



Fans of Star Trek, Firefly, and The Expanse will enjoy this riveting sci-fi thriller series.

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, LGBT

252 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 25, 2016

About the author

Zen DiPietro is a lifelong bookworm, writer, and dreamer. Perhaps most importantly, a Browncoat Trekkie Whovian. Also red-haired, left-handed, and uber geek. Absolutely terrible at conforming. A recovering gamer, but we won’t talk about that. Particular loves include badass heroines, British accents, and the smell of Band-Aids. You can sign up for her newsletter at www.zendipietro.com.

Reviews

[Lex Kent · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2 Stars. I loved book 1 of the Dragonfire series. I actually thought it was the best lesfic Sci-Fi book, published in 2016, that I read. I'm really disappointed that this book did not live up to it's predecessor.

Book 1 was not action packed, but it worked. There was great world building with the different ships, planets and races of aliens. I was hoping book 2 would be action packed, but instead it was slower than book 1. And considering we didn't need more world building, this book became weighted down and boring. For example, we had to read pages and pages of Fallon and her crew cleaning out a room and turning it into a gym. Wow, exciting. That's not what I want to read about, and when we did have some excitement, it was over quickly without much conflict, so it was a let down.

The next major problem I had with this book, was how Fallon's character turned. I picked out book 1, because it was about a woman, who lost her memories, including of her wife. I read mostly lesbian fiction, and that is why I picked this series. I feel like this was a bait and switch. Most of the book was about what men Fallon though were attractive, then she started sleeping with her male partner. Zen, used the reasoning that this was okay for Fallon to do because her wife did her wrong. Fallon's wife did not stand by Fallon, when she found out Fallon was a rogue agent and actually investigating her wife. How could Fallon be with someone who left her? I found that to be such B.S. Of course her wife was upset, the whole marriage was a sham. Not too mention Fallon left her wife, without even saying goodbye, to go off on adventures. The wife did not leave Fallon. So how is that the wife's fault? It was just an excuse for Fallon to now sleep with men she has no chemistry with. I'm sure some more mainstream readers will be happy with this. Zen, can choose what to do with her characters. But I don't have to like it. I feel tricked. And there is too much good lesbian fiction out there for me to waste my time feeling this way. I'm sad to say, for me, this will be the end of a once promising series.

[Mark Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Good: I knew I’d like Fragments since I five-starred Translucid. I asked Zen to send me Fragments when it was ready, and she complied. Yay! I immediately moved it to the top of my TBR pile. This is another action/adventure outing for Fallon and her team. Everything I liked about Translucid, I liked in Fragments.

The Bad: While the chapters weren’t as long in Fragments as they were in Translucid, they were still pretty long. About thirty to forty-five minutes per chapter. Since I only spend about an hour a night reading, I would just read for an hour and end at the nearest scene break. There were significant “flashbacks” and narrated stories contained within. These were mostly important to the story, but I got the feeling that some of these had been shoehorned in to meet an arbitrary word count. They weren’t arduous to read, and a few of them would’ve made excellent side-stories, maybe a collection of short Fallon memories.

The Beautiful: I enjoyed the continuation of the Dragonfire Station series. It was nice to read about the different aspects of the universe. Since I compared the last book with popular television shows and movies, I’ll do the same for Fragments: Firefly meets Serenity. I know the movie was based on the series, and I got a total Whedon-esque vibe while reading Fragments. Lots of time on ships heading here or there to do this or that, all while staying under the radar of the totalitarian government bent on getting Fallon and her crew.

The Final Word: While I think Fragments would make an excellent sci-fi TV series, and I could totally see Joss Whedon directing it; I liked Translucid better. Like its predecessor, Fragments wrapped up the story leaving more questions than answers, but in a good way. I read more than I normally do so I could knock out Fragments yesterday. I look forward to reading book three but dread the long wait. Overall, I’d give Fragments 4.5 stars. Both books in the series are 99 cents on Amazon, and you’d be a total doofenshmirtz not to get them both.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

As book 1 ended after the team's reunion, with mission and memory still unresolved, this one ends with a different sort of "reunion" (I don't want to be spoiler-y), ready for the next step. I liked it better, more a GR 3.4 than a 3.0, partly because I'm more connected to the protagonists by now.

The "fragments" of the title are not only lucid-dream memory bits, but also several anecdotes of their past together told to Fallon by her teammates, giving intimate glimpses into both their personalities and what Fallon was like from different perspectives. The group has come together mainly "like old times", despite Fallon's lack of memory, because her instincts, tastes, and humour are unchanged. Teasing is as big a part of their bond as unconditional support.

It's not much of a spoiler to say that the issue of Fallon's estrangement from her probably-not-legally married wife, Wren, is not yet settled by this volume's end, and one teammate has added an additional complication. However, this is an interstellar spy adventure, not primarily a romance. I will comment that several of the characters are taken-for-granted bisexual, and monogamy is less common than living for the moment. I still liked the book and characters.

In a realistic way, the plot involves interludes of transit and/or waiting, punctuated by moments of tense, high-stakes action.

The writing and proofreading is good, though there were a few sentences that I would blue-pencil, more often with suggestions than true corrections. The one repeated thing that bugged me is that, when Fallon finally accesses some of her lost memories, seeing them not as a part of herself but more like movie clips, the perspective is wrong. There's no way she could be looking at her own face — it's not like she was standing in front of a mirror!

I am also unclear (possibly the fault of *my* memory, in this case) on whether a few of the sentient groups named (e.g., Rescans) are humans, human offshoots, or completely unrelated (though more or less "simian"-descended) species, though a couple new examples of definite other species are met and described this time. (The theropodlike Briveen medical scientist Brak is still the most important.)

I'm looking forward to the conclusion, seeing Avian Team finally take on the corrupt element in Blackout directly.

[Shelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is everything you want from a good space opera. The characters are compelling, fully-fleshed-out people. There's plenty of adventure, with visits to alien worlds, some space battles, and some spy-craft. We get to learn more about Fallon as her friends and partners in the Avian unit share memories of past missions, which was a fun way of getting to see the narrator through other characters' eyes. It was a very enjoyable read and I am already sad that the next appears to be the conclusion to the series because I enjoy these characters so much.

[Lizzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story in books 1 and 2 has been slow and repetitive, with the plot and dialogue feeling like a juvenile attempt at writing a story. While grammar and punctuation along with style are technically correct, it lacks that spark.

I do admire the character diversity, to include a same sex marriage, interesting aliens with body modification issues, and a planet that believes monogamy to be aberrant; and I liked the basic concept of a black ops team in space led by a woman. For those reasons I gave it 3 stars.

[Thomas Merrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great sequel

This book advanced the story of Fallon in a very exciting way. A lot of action and personal discovery made this a good book. I enjoyed this more than the first book.

[Laura Kehoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating isn’t 3.5 Stars. Full review coming soon!

[Marti · Rating 5 out of 5]

This second in series is so good that you could actually start with it and still enjoy every page! Of course, then you’d be hooked and insist on reading the whole series.

The author masterfully tells the story of a intelligence black ops unit on the run from corrupt officers who are apparently intent on taking over the government and maybe the universe. To make things even worse, Chief Fallon has lost all her personal memories due to an accident which injured her brain. Fortunately, her operational memories are just fine and her team the best. But how can a small team take on the entire intelligence service?!

[Ben Lilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book in a killer science fiction series set in futuristic space, similar to Deep Space Nine and Babylon Five. I’d also say if you’re a fan of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, you’re going to love this. The novel has the same hard science we know and love, and DiPietro devotes some time taking us through the agonies of transportation in space. In my review of the first book, I was hesitant to introduce any of the main players or talk about their character development because I didn’t want to spoil the mysterious elements, but now that you all know who’s who, let’s dig into it!

By the end of the first book, we discover Em is a part of a covert operation, where something has gone terribly wrong. She’s the leader of a specialized unit of four: two men and two women. This unit is closer than family, closer than blood. Their slogan is “blood and bone”, that’s how close they are, and when they find out what’s happened to Em, they come together quickly and efficiently to solve the case.

In book one I was calling the story a lesbian science fiction mystery of sorts, but as we got into the series more, it became clear Em is more pansexual than lesbian. Her relationship by the end of book one is pretty much dissolved, which opens her to a whole new set of problems when she realizes her previous self had a relationship with one of the members on her team, Raptor.

Now I read a bunch of reviews poo-pooing this ‘bait and switch’, but I didn’t think it was intended to be that way. Em is pansexual–besides being attracted to all sexes of humans, she has a pretty strong attraction to a certain lizard species. In fact, most of the members on her team are fluid, both professionally–because they are spies–and in their free time. This book being more accurately classified as LGBTQ doesn’t take away that important lesbian visibility or message, it merely puts it into a greater category. Em is still queer. She’s just discovering she has feelings for a man. Getting all upset about it merely emphasizes the dangers of bi erasure in our community.

A good question may be why Em got married to a woman, her mark no less, when she was still in love with Raptor. That question hasn’t been answered yet, but I suppose it may have something to do with Em being dutiful to the role of being the leader of their operation, and the fact that she truly did love her wife. It was her wife who broke things off when she discovered Em was initially spying on her, not Em.

Speaking of Raptor, from the moment he walks into (okay, sneaks into and assaults) Em’s life, I knew there was something up. I didn’t want to say anything in the first review, because spoilers, but come on. The dude is an impressive covert operative one minute, and using lame deflective jokes the next. He has no armor around Em. There was also a big hint from the two other team members when they expressed surprise that Em got married without checking with Raptor first, and if that’s not a big red flag, I don’t know what is.

Though he was tormented, Raptor allowed Em to come to her own realizations on her own time. It must have really sucked for him to return from a far-away mission, intending to get to the bottom of the hinky doings of their government, but also probably wanting to confront Em about her marriage, and then find out he can’t have closure because Em doesn’t remember anything. He may never know why Em broke–what he may consider–a sacred bond between them to marry someone else, be them man or woman or lizard, but he does what he thinks is best for her: gives her space and soldiers on. Despite his childish flaws, he acts admirably when he needs to.

The other members of Em’s team are Hawk and Peregrine. Em is the leader and strategist, Raptor is the hacker, Hawk is the… let’s just call him the acquisitions specialist, and Peregrine is the disguise/surveillance expert.

Hawk was a fun character, a big Dom, who prefers men but will play with just about anyone. He’s easy going, likes his sexual flings, and loves his group. He has a big heart but is also a stone cold killer. And man, can that dude take a beating.

There’s another book, so I’m hoping to get to know Peregrine more. We had a little face time with her–and I wanted to give the author thanks for that–but most of the story is spent on Em. Quite a bit of the story is also devoted to Raptor, but ultimately they are all part of this unbreakable bond. They are their own people but they are also very much for each other. It was touching, but it quickly became obvious how delicate that situation could be, especially with Em not remembering anyone and Raptor hurting. I’m still not completely certain how Em and Raptor can be an item, with her technically being the leader, but something Raptor said at one point helped me understand a bit more. He mentioned the military was everything to him. He couldn’t see himself doing anything else. Because of that, he didn’t imagine he’d live long, probably die bleeding out after some mission or another, but when he did take his last breath he wanted it to be in Em’s arms.

And I think that’s how they all feel. When they go, they want to go out together.

We’ll see what the next book has in store for them.

Blood and bone.

[Rebecca Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ugh, ok, this book is FINE and ENTERTAINING and I’m going to read book 3 now, but the casual ableism is really a bummer. People who *don’t* have strong, healthy bodies *should* feel embarrassed about being naked? Just eff off.

[Brad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long Road to Becoming Yourself

This second book in the series covers a critical period of time where Fallon/Em/Fury tries to recover her loss memories while her tea, the Avian Unit, races across the universe to learn the truth about who is trying to put them permanently out of business.

The story intermixes the long periods of interstellar travel with brief moments of intense action. The author provides a rich tapestry of the world they are in and the characters that form the core team.

This is a great set up for the next book in the series while providing a satisfying end to some of the story arcs.

[Red Tide · Rating 4 out of 5]

Convoluted
I went back and finished the book after rereading the first. I see how both books seemed to me, at first but there's a lot more to the writing than I saw at first. She writes the characters well and gives relationships pride of place, which I very much appreciate. The speed with which the main character bonds with total strangers wasn't realistic to me.

(Original comments)
DNF early in because of boredom. Space Opera isn't supposed to be Soap Opera or at least I always thought. So I decided that I didn't need the backstory after all.

The writing isn't so great and I think the writer is just skating on the Space Opera label. I won't try the last book of Dragonfire Station but will take a look at the writer's other books instead.
(End of Original comments)

I have revised my opinion about the book. The space opera part, I get and the vagueness of some background is expected. Her writing is much better than I had thought. The background universe wasn't as vivid as the characters' immediate environment. Despite that, her universe is much better constructed than those of a lot of others.

The plot got twisted in my mind after zooming from close-up to long distance. Relationships are really good in the first book but feel thinner in the second as the plot hangs fire in the first third or so of the book. There's too much opportunity to look at the instant deep trust and sharing of confidences with total strangers. Characters on the station with a Deep Space Nine web of connection tied to the security chief would have made more sense to me.

Once the action starts, the more distant relationships feel more authentic and the team's internal workings seem too involved. The combat is fine but the lead up to combat seems unclear, a lot. She writes most of it well but the reasons for delay of pursuit by enemies or random pirate attacks are a little off. The plot speed and the action sequences don't mesh.

I want to see how the story ends. I hope that it ends with a big space opera splash.

[Heather Henkel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good follow-up

I enjoyed the second book as much as the first and can't wait to read the next one in the series.

[Michael Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can read my review of “Fragments” at my web site.