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The Space Operas #1
Annihilation Aria
Max is a cheery xeno-archeologist from Earth, stranded and trying to find a way home. Lahra is a stern warrior of a nearly extinct race, searching for her people’s heir. Wheel is the couple’s cybernetic pilot, running from her past and toward an unknown future. On Wheel’s ship the Kettle, the trio traverses the galaxy, dodging Imperial patrols and searching ancient temples and ruins for anything they can sell. Back on the Wreck, their home and base of operations, they're deeply in debt to the drifting city’s most powerful gangster, and she wants her money back. So when a dangerous but promising job comes their way, Max, Lahra, and Wheel have little choice but to take it. But the crew of the Kettle gets more than they bargained for when they find themselves in possession of a powerful artifact—one that puts them squarely in the crosshairs of the Vsenk, the galaxy’s ruthless and oppressive imperial overlords. Can they evade space fascists, kick-start a rebellion, and save the galaxy, all while they each try to find their own way home?
13 pages, Audiobook
First published July 21, 2020
79 people are currently reading
766 people want to read
About the author
Michael R. Underwood
35 books262 followersSupport Mike's writing at https://www.patreon.com/michaelrunder...
Mike's books include:
Genrenauts - a r/Fantasy Stabby Award-finalist science fiction adventure series in novellas. A group of storytellers travel between dimensions to the worlds where genres live to fix broken stories. Starts with The Shootout Solution. Collections available: Genrenauts - The Complete Season One
The Ree Reyes urban fantasy series (Geekomancy, Celebromancy, Attack the Geek, Hexomancy) about magicians who channel the power of popular culture. Starts with Geekomancy.
Born to the Blade, a political action fantasy about duelist diplomats vying for their nation's interests in a world on the brink of war. Co-written with Marie Brennan, Malka Older, and Cassandra Khaw for Serial Box Publishing. Collections available: Born to the Blade Season One.
Shield and Crocus, a superheroes-meets-epic fantasy novel where an aging revolutionary makes a deal with his most deadly foe to turn the tide of a fifty-year-long fight to free his city.
The Younger Gods, a supernatural thriller starring the white-sheep member of a family of demon-worshippers as he tries to stop his big sister from ending the world.
Mike started telling stories when he learned to talk and hasn't seen a reason to stop yet. He grew up playing video games, CCGs, RPGs, and many other delightful games with acronyms. As a teenager, the friendly local game store was his home away from home, and the site of his apprenticeship in geekdom.
Mike earned a B.A. in Creative Mythology and in East Asian Studies from Indiana University, and a M.A. in Folklore Studies from the University of Oregon. Basically, destined to be a novelist. He is also a graduate of the 2007 Clarion West Writers Workshop.
Properly equipped with lots of ways to develop story ideas, Mike has been a barista, a bear builder, a sales representative, and the North American Sales & Marketing Manager for Angry Robot Books.
Mike lives with his wife and their dog in Baltimore, MD.
Mike's books include:
Genrenauts - a r/Fantasy Stabby Award-finalist science fiction adventure series in novellas. A group of storytellers travel between dimensions to the worlds where genres live to fix broken stories. Starts with The Shootout Solution. Collections available: Genrenauts - The Complete Season One
The Ree Reyes urban fantasy series (Geekomancy, Celebromancy, Attack the Geek, Hexomancy) about magicians who channel the power of popular culture. Starts with Geekomancy.
Born to the Blade, a political action fantasy about duelist diplomats vying for their nation's interests in a world on the brink of war. Co-written with Marie Brennan, Malka Older, and Cassandra Khaw for Serial Box Publishing. Collections available: Born to the Blade Season One.
Shield and Crocus, a superheroes-meets-epic fantasy novel where an aging revolutionary makes a deal with his most deadly foe to turn the tide of a fifty-year-long fight to free his city.
The Younger Gods, a supernatural thriller starring the white-sheep member of a family of demon-worshippers as he tries to stop his big sister from ending the world.
Mike started telling stories when he learned to talk and hasn't seen a reason to stop yet. He grew up playing video games, CCGs, RPGs, and many other delightful games with acronyms. As a teenager, the friendly local game store was his home away from home, and the site of his apprenticeship in geekdom.
Mike earned a B.A. in Creative Mythology and in East Asian Studies from Indiana University, and a M.A. in Folklore Studies from the University of Oregon. Basically, destined to be a novelist. He is also a graduate of the 2007 Clarion West Writers Workshop.
Properly equipped with lots of ways to develop story ideas, Mike has been a barista, a bear builder, a sales representative, and the North American Sales & Marketing Manager for Angry Robot Books.
Mike lives with his wife and their dog in Baltimore, MD.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
July 7, 2020
When it comes to space operas, one generally doesn't think of things like actual SINGING, but I have to admit this is a welcome addition to the corpus of this subgenre.
Add to it some fairly oddball settings/characters, a massive space-nod to Indiana Jones, and transform the first half of the novel into an outright quest to save the universe from the empire, including space battles, more singing, and the optimism inherent in fighting fascism, and you've got yourself a fun book.
So why aren't I giving this an enthusiastic 5-star rating? Because for all its internal enthusiasm and SF-blockbuster movie ethos, it has, unfortunately, all been done before. All that's left is a tale that must do the old thing BETTER than all the ones before it and this one -- while definitely fun -- isn't the beat-all of the genre. There is a LOT of space operas out there.
Still, if you're looking for something new in the subgenre, I definitely think you ought to check this out. :) Expect adventure. :)
Add to it some fairly oddball settings/characters, a massive space-nod to Indiana Jones, and transform the first half of the novel into an outright quest to save the universe from the empire, including space battles, more singing, and the optimism inherent in fighting fascism, and you've got yourself a fun book.
So why aren't I giving this an enthusiastic 5-star rating? Because for all its internal enthusiasm and SF-blockbuster movie ethos, it has, unfortunately, all been done before. All that's left is a tale that must do the old thing BETTER than all the ones before it and this one -- while definitely fun -- isn't the beat-all of the genre. There is a LOT of space operas out there.
Still, if you're looking for something new in the subgenre, I definitely think you ought to check this out. :) Expect adventure. :)
May 9, 2021
The parts I liked were the archeological setting (tomb raider in space), the fact that the mcs are a married couple - that's a rare, and especially the idea of a species using songs as a means of communicating, fighting or repairing. This gives a whole new dimension to the genre name "space opera".
Unfortunately the plot and the writing itself didn't live up to the great setup. Too many of the dialogues read like 'witty' verbal duels with phrases used a hundred times before, so that the characters came across as rather clichéd most of the time.
The plot itself wanted to do too much. It was a bit like jumping around in a computer game with new quests for every new level. I was missing some balancing touch on the whole opera.
Unfortunately the plot and the writing itself didn't live up to the great setup. Too many of the dialogues read like 'witty' verbal duels with phrases used a hundred times before, so that the characters came across as rather clichéd most of the time.
The plot itself wanted to do too much. It was a bit like jumping around in a computer game with new quests for every new level. I was missing some balancing touch on the whole opera.
June 17, 2020
I decided to give this author another chance, even though the previous book of his I'd reviewed (
Celebromancy
) had significant issues, because it also had signs of potential. He's written a number of books since then, and authors generally do improve with practice.
I gave that previous book three stars because, to me, the negatives and the positives balanced each other out. I considered advancing this one to four stars, because despite the fact that the same issues are still there, I did end up enjoying it towards the end, and there's still a lot of good stuff. But ultimately I decided that it doesn't quite make it to four stars. It's a higher three than Celebromancy, though.
It's frustrating to read a book by an author who clearly has some ability, but hasn't polished the book to be all it could be. I felt this with some of Max Gladstone's early novels, which showed tremendous imagination let down by some basic weaknesses. This book has the same problem, though it's not as vividly imaginative as Gladstone's.
There are some strengths, definitely. The biggest one for me was the fact that the main antagonist gets a viewpoint and becomes a relatable character; he's caught up in the system just as much as anyone. Even if he has a position of privilege relative to the protagonists, he's at the bottom of the heap as far as his own people are concerned. He really just wants to go home and be with his family. This was well done, and if everything else about the book had been at or near the same level, it could have been knocking on the door of five stars.
But it wasn't. I noted in my review of Celebromancy that it was full of continuity issues. That seems to be a problem for this author, because this book is riddled with them too. I read a pre-release version from Netgalley, and there's a chance that some will be fixed before publication (the publisher contacted me after I published this review and asked for my notes, which I provided), but they are numerous and pervasive, especially early on. A bit of exposition is given twice. A decisive moment in a scene happens twice. A character returning to Genos, the destroyed planet of her ancestors, wonders if she's the first of her people ever to do so, because "no stories of those returns survived in the diaspora", and then two pages later is reminiscing about multiple stories her mother told her of previous people who returned there.
The largest continuity issue, however, and the one that would be hardest to fix, because it leaves a plot hole regardless of which way you work it, is about the destruction of that planet. At the 58% mark, the nature of the planet-destroyer is revealed (I won't spoil that revelation here), and we're told that there were actually two weapons, one which destroyed the planet Atlan and was then hidden, and an inferior duplicate that was later used to destroy Genos because the Imperials didn't have access to the first one and had spent centuries coming up with an imitation. Later in the book, though, we're told that the same weapon was used to destroy both planets; it's part of what motivates a character.
Whichever version of the story you use, you have to explain why the Imperials don't still have the weapon used to destroy Genos (whether it's the original or the copy). And this isn't ever addressed. They just don't have the weapon.
Apart from the issues with continuity, there were a remnant number of copy editing issues (vocabulary errors, apostrophe errors, mispunctuated dialog, dangling modifiers, lots of excess hyphens) which escaped despite the "meticulous" copy edits the author references in his acknowledgements. Again, I've provided my notes to the publisher, and these could be fixed by publication time, but the sheer number of them means that not only did the editor miss a lot, I've also inevitably missed some - and it also means that the original manuscript must have been incredibly messy. The best predictor of a clean book is an author who doesn't make these mistakes in the first place.
There are other weaknesses which dropped the rating for me, too. The author also acknowledges an editor who pushed him; I don't think she pushed him hard enough, because a lot of the book is just bland. The worldbuilding is mostly bland, standard space opera stuff. The characters are bland, and there's not much to them that doesn't come either from their archetypes or their specific roles in the plot. The language is bland, unremarkable except where it glitches.
The author mentions at the end that the inspiration for the book was the movie Guardians of the Galaxy. But to me, a lot of what made Guardians of the Galaxy enjoyable is missing. It's not over the top; there are some sensawunda moments, but they're generic and, to me, forgettable. The characters are not a set of damaged loners who bicker and fight their way to eventual cohesion as a team in the face of a threat that brings out the best in their previously grungy characters; they're already a team at the start. The married couple (we're told repeatedly and shown occasionally) are devoted to one another. They only really have one argument in the entire book, which seems to be there to raise the tension during the only time they're separated, in a well-worn trope. They get on well with their pilot, too. They all have difficult backstories, which are all more to do with belonging to oppressed peoples than anything specific to them as individuals, but they seem to have coped well with their challenges and become functional adults. Which is great, and it's good to see a functioning marriage and a functioning team; but it's nothing like Guardians.
And the so-called "banter"; on a scale of zero to Whedon, it would barely shift the needle on the bantermeter. It's notably weak.
A few pop culture references are there, but they're more influences from earlier stories, and things like the female tomb raider of the couple being named Lhara. I don't know if John Carter was a conscious influence on Max (sole Earth-human character provided for means of audience identification, transported to space locale by mysterious means - in Max's case, an unexpected, one-way and apparently unique teleportation device discovered on an archaeological dig in Atlantean/ancient-alien ruins), but that's who he reminded me of. Though he's not a fighter at all, but very much an academic who leaves the fighting to his warrior wife.
I prefer it that these influences are subtle, but I'd also like to see something different, something fresh, done with them. The worst features of space opera are here: ridiculously short travel times (at one point, an interstellar trip that is specifically being made not in "warp space" takes 20 days; at another point, a distance specifically described as "light years" is going to be covered in hours, also outside warp space), lasers knock a ship into a spin, and gravity, when wielded as a weapon, is, apparently, purple and silver for cinematic purposes. Giant space turtles (with flippers, whatever those would do) drift on solar winds but cover interstellar distances also in compressed timeframes. But it doesn't have the zest and zing of, say, Tim Pratt's space operas, or - again - Guardians of the Galaxy. It's all pretty much by the numbers, except when it stumbles or fumbles.
Overall, then, while I can still see unrealized potential that could be brought out with more work and focus, this book fell short for me, and doesn't inspire me to read a sequel or others of the author's works.
I received a copy via Netgalley for review.
I gave that previous book three stars because, to me, the negatives and the positives balanced each other out. I considered advancing this one to four stars, because despite the fact that the same issues are still there, I did end up enjoying it towards the end, and there's still a lot of good stuff. But ultimately I decided that it doesn't quite make it to four stars. It's a higher three than Celebromancy, though.
It's frustrating to read a book by an author who clearly has some ability, but hasn't polished the book to be all it could be. I felt this with some of Max Gladstone's early novels, which showed tremendous imagination let down by some basic weaknesses. This book has the same problem, though it's not as vividly imaginative as Gladstone's.
There are some strengths, definitely. The biggest one for me was the fact that the main antagonist gets a viewpoint and becomes a relatable character; he's caught up in the system just as much as anyone. Even if he has a position of privilege relative to the protagonists, he's at the bottom of the heap as far as his own people are concerned. He really just wants to go home and be with his family. This was well done, and if everything else about the book had been at or near the same level, it could have been knocking on the door of five stars.
But it wasn't. I noted in my review of Celebromancy that it was full of continuity issues. That seems to be a problem for this author, because this book is riddled with them too. I read a pre-release version from Netgalley, and there's a chance that some will be fixed before publication (the publisher contacted me after I published this review and asked for my notes, which I provided), but they are numerous and pervasive, especially early on. A bit of exposition is given twice. A decisive moment in a scene happens twice. A character returning to Genos, the destroyed planet of her ancestors, wonders if she's the first of her people ever to do so, because "no stories of those returns survived in the diaspora", and then two pages later is reminiscing about multiple stories her mother told her of previous people who returned there.
The largest continuity issue, however, and the one that would be hardest to fix, because it leaves a plot hole regardless of which way you work it, is about the destruction of that planet. At the 58% mark, the nature of the planet-destroyer is revealed (I won't spoil that revelation here), and we're told that there were actually two weapons, one which destroyed the planet Atlan and was then hidden, and an inferior duplicate that was later used to destroy Genos because the Imperials didn't have access to the first one and had spent centuries coming up with an imitation. Later in the book, though, we're told that the same weapon was used to destroy both planets; it's part of what motivates a character.
Whichever version of the story you use, you have to explain why the Imperials don't still have the weapon used to destroy Genos (whether it's the original or the copy). And this isn't ever addressed. They just don't have the weapon.
Apart from the issues with continuity, there were a remnant number of copy editing issues (vocabulary errors, apostrophe errors, mispunctuated dialog, dangling modifiers, lots of excess hyphens) which escaped despite the "meticulous" copy edits the author references in his acknowledgements. Again, I've provided my notes to the publisher, and these could be fixed by publication time, but the sheer number of them means that not only did the editor miss a lot, I've also inevitably missed some - and it also means that the original manuscript must have been incredibly messy. The best predictor of a clean book is an author who doesn't make these mistakes in the first place.
There are other weaknesses which dropped the rating for me, too. The author also acknowledges an editor who pushed him; I don't think she pushed him hard enough, because a lot of the book is just bland. The worldbuilding is mostly bland, standard space opera stuff. The characters are bland, and there's not much to them that doesn't come either from their archetypes or their specific roles in the plot. The language is bland, unremarkable except where it glitches.
The author mentions at the end that the inspiration for the book was the movie Guardians of the Galaxy. But to me, a lot of what made Guardians of the Galaxy enjoyable is missing. It's not over the top; there are some sensawunda moments, but they're generic and, to me, forgettable. The characters are not a set of damaged loners who bicker and fight their way to eventual cohesion as a team in the face of a threat that brings out the best in their previously grungy characters; they're already a team at the start. The married couple (we're told repeatedly and shown occasionally) are devoted to one another. They only really have one argument in the entire book, which seems to be there to raise the tension during the only time they're separated, in a well-worn trope. They get on well with their pilot, too. They all have difficult backstories, which are all more to do with belonging to oppressed peoples than anything specific to them as individuals, but they seem to have coped well with their challenges and become functional adults. Which is great, and it's good to see a functioning marriage and a functioning team; but it's nothing like Guardians.
And the so-called "banter"; on a scale of zero to Whedon, it would barely shift the needle on the bantermeter. It's notably weak.
A few pop culture references are there, but they're more influences from earlier stories, and things like the female tomb raider of the couple being named Lhara. I don't know if John Carter was a conscious influence on Max (sole Earth-human character provided for means of audience identification, transported to space locale by mysterious means - in Max's case, an unexpected, one-way and apparently unique teleportation device discovered on an archaeological dig in Atlantean/ancient-alien ruins), but that's who he reminded me of. Though he's not a fighter at all, but very much an academic who leaves the fighting to his warrior wife.
I prefer it that these influences are subtle, but I'd also like to see something different, something fresh, done with them. The worst features of space opera are here: ridiculously short travel times (at one point, an interstellar trip that is specifically being made not in "warp space" takes 20 days; at another point, a distance specifically described as "light years" is going to be covered in hours, also outside warp space), lasers knock a ship into a spin, and gravity, when wielded as a weapon, is, apparently, purple and silver for cinematic purposes. Giant space turtles (with flippers, whatever those would do) drift on solar winds but cover interstellar distances also in compressed timeframes. But it doesn't have the zest and zing of, say, Tim Pratt's space operas, or - again - Guardians of the Galaxy. It's all pretty much by the numbers, except when it stumbles or fumbles.
Overall, then, while I can still see unrealized potential that could be brought out with more work and focus, this book fell short for me, and doesn't inspire me to read a sequel or others of the author's works.
I received a copy via Netgalley for review.
February 18, 2020
I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this from the author himself! I haven't read any sci-fi in awhile, but this really scratched the itch. Not just great science fiction, but great fun too.
June 19, 2020
While the premise of the book seems fun and exiting, I just couldn't dive into it. This book takes place in space, but is that excuse enough to put the word 'space' before things, concepts or even animals? Space locust? Space magic? Space turtles? That really ruined it for me.
The author has great ideas, but I think he didn't dig deeper to develop them. So here goes.
The story. Aside the flagrant continuity issues, could have been a lot better, it wasn't: space good guys fight against the tyranny of space bad guys. Meanwhile other space good guys that are also space tomb raiders, look for "Atlan" artifacts to sell on the black market, led by an American man that gets thrown into the mix -we are told, since he's there from the start- by some advanced technology, from the almost extinct Atlans, which is hidden on some of Earth's recently discovered Atlantis ruins. The space good guys that are also space tomb raiders, find a weapon that the space bad guys want, so the chase begins.
You keep wondering from the start why intelligent species on space, speak english. That is, until the second quarter of the book, when the author remembers to tell us that the Earth man is actually really good at languages and dialects, since he's an archaeologist (O.o), and is in fact speaking the aliens' various languages.
The human is also married to an alien life form. She's -conveniently- too similar to him, compatible even, except, we are told, for her height. She's one or two feet taller than he is. She's sort of a warrior that fights using "space magic" songs and a sword that needs recharging.
The tech behind the novel is mostly borrowed from known sci fi TV shows and books. Warp engines, force fields, I could go on.
The characters are as thin as paper. Conveniently revealing strengths as needed, but not really growing. What you read about them in the first few pages is all you get, as far as development goes. To be fair, the main antagonist turns out to be a bit more interesting than the rest of the cast, but not by much.
The weapon of mass destruction issue is quite the example of what continuity means to the author.
There's a planet killer weapon in the space bad guy's arsenal, and it is a copy of one created by the Atlans ages ago. The space bad guys used their copy to destroy the Atlans and to presently keep all space good guys in check. It pains me to say that the space bad guys have the weapon and then suddenly, they need the original weapon because -Really?!- they don't have the one they created and used. This comes with not even a hint of an explanation, like "the copy was destroyed because it overheated" or "our weapons' warehouse is a mess and we can't find it." No. The author ignores the fact that it has been used, because all of a sudden, it doesn't exists.
I could go on with my rant, I wont, if you're reading this I think you suffered long enough. Suffice to say that I didn't enjoyed reading this book and had to force myself to finish it.
The author has great ideas, but I think he didn't dig deeper to develop them. So here goes.
The story. Aside the flagrant continuity issues, could have been a lot better, it wasn't: space good guys fight against the tyranny of space bad guys. Meanwhile other space good guys that are also space tomb raiders, look for "Atlan" artifacts to sell on the black market, led by an American man that gets thrown into the mix -we are told, since he's there from the start- by some advanced technology, from the almost extinct Atlans, which is hidden on some of Earth's recently discovered Atlantis ruins. The space good guys that are also space tomb raiders, find a weapon that the space bad guys want, so the chase begins.
You keep wondering from the start why intelligent species on space, speak english. That is, until the second quarter of the book, when the author remembers to tell us that the Earth man is actually really good at languages and dialects, since he's an archaeologist (O.o), and is in fact speaking the aliens' various languages.
The human is also married to an alien life form. She's -conveniently- too similar to him, compatible even, except, we are told, for her height. She's one or two feet taller than he is. She's sort of a warrior that fights using "space magic" songs and a sword that needs recharging.
The tech behind the novel is mostly borrowed from known sci fi TV shows and books. Warp engines, force fields, I could go on.
The characters are as thin as paper. Conveniently revealing strengths as needed, but not really growing. What you read about them in the first few pages is all you get, as far as development goes. To be fair, the main antagonist turns out to be a bit more interesting than the rest of the cast, but not by much.
The weapon of mass destruction issue is quite the example of what continuity means to the author.
There's a planet killer weapon in the space bad guy's arsenal, and it is a copy of one created by the Atlans ages ago. The space bad guys used their copy to destroy the Atlans and to presently keep all space good guys in check. It pains me to say that the space bad guys have the weapon and then suddenly, they need the original weapon because -Really?!- they don't have the one they created and used. This comes with not even a hint of an explanation, like "the copy was destroyed because it overheated" or "our weapons' warehouse is a mess and we can't find it." No. The author ignores the fact that it has been used, because all of a sudden, it doesn't exists.
I could go on with my rant, I wont, if you're reading this I think you suffered long enough. Suffice to say that I didn't enjoyed reading this book and had to force myself to finish it.
September 2, 2020
Sometimes you just need some fun, and this book provides that. It’s a little bit of Farscape with a dash of Guardians of the Galaxy and a soupçon of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. It’s not as over-the-top as the first or as funny as the second or as well-written as the last, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
That said, there are a few continuity errors and one chapter repeats the first few paragraphs, so I guess the copy editor was asleep at the switch for this one. Still, the overall story was great fun, just a non-cynical Space Opera romp. If you like Scalzi’s lightweight stuff, you’ll probably enjoy this.
That said, there are a few continuity errors and one chapter repeats the first few paragraphs, so I guess the copy editor was asleep at the switch for this one. Still, the overall story was great fun, just a non-cynical Space Opera romp. If you like Scalzi’s lightweight stuff, you’ll probably enjoy this.
March 12, 2020
Annihilation Aria is a space opera that wears its heart (and its optimism) on its sleeve. Following the adventures of the Kettle and its crew of imperfect-but-deeply-likable characters is like hanging out with a group of old friends.
With the kind of found family strength and support that I love about Becky Chambers's Wafarers series and Farscape, Annihilation Aria is a galaxy-spanning tale punctuated by small, emotionally honest moments. It's filled with thoughtful observations and layered characterizations, but also with Indiana Jones-style adventure archaeology, space combat, and bad-ass sword fights.
In short: it's smart, skillful, and a whole lot of fun. Exactly what I look for in a space opera!
With the kind of found family strength and support that I love about Becky Chambers's Wafarers series and Farscape, Annihilation Aria is a galaxy-spanning tale punctuated by small, emotionally honest moments. It's filled with thoughtful observations and layered characterizations, but also with Indiana Jones-style adventure archaeology, space combat, and bad-ass sword fights.
In short: it's smart, skillful, and a whole lot of fun. Exactly what I look for in a space opera!
August 29, 2020
Overlay the adventure and romance of 1999's The Mummy onto the space shenanigans and color palette of Guardians of the Galaxy or Thor Ragnarok.
I cannot tell you how delightful it is to have a couple in Max and Lahra who show immense respect and love for each other despite their cultural and goal-oriented differences. The plot's drama is external to their marriage, allowing their love to give them strength rather than hold them back, and watching them lift each other up to power through the end of the book was immensely satisfying.
The publisher provided me with an Advance Review Copy of this novel but my review is my own.
I cannot tell you how delightful it is to have a couple in Max and Lahra who show immense respect and love for each other despite their cultural and goal-oriented differences. The plot's drama is external to their marriage, allowing their love to give them strength rather than hold them back, and watching them lift each other up to power through the end of the book was immensely satisfying.
The publisher provided me with an Advance Review Copy of this novel but my review is my own.
June 3, 2020
A found-family space opera in the tradition of Guardians of the Galaxy, Firefly, Star Wars, Farscape, and more.
I wrote this book over the course of several years, often as a back-burner project. It grew in revision both in size and in substance, and I'm very proud to see it into the world as probably the best novel I've written to date.
I wrote this book over the course of several years, often as a back-burner project. It grew in revision both in size and in substance, and I'm very proud to see it into the world as probably the best novel I've written to date.
September 9, 2020
Good story with lots of action! It's a bit like Indiana Jones in space with magical weapons!
June 27, 2020
I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
I love light space opera, but I was underwhelmed with this novel.
It’s frustrating that I couldn’t like it more because it has a lot of things I love: female characters who are people and not just tag-along girlfriends, cool weapons, respectful romantic relationships, and alien cultures. Unfortunately, nothing about it was particularly innovative.
I think the main issue is that it feels like “book 2”. Instead of getting to watch a team grow and come together despite their differences, Max, Lahra and Wheel are already a functioning trio. Their dynamic is … a little boring. The reason why Guardians of the Galaxy (which the author mentions in his afterward) is so much fun is because the team doesn’t get along. It’s another reason why I also loved The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, Firefly, and pretty much every other sci-fi book/movie about a small group on a spaceship.
If the dialogue had been snappy this might have been ok, but there’s nothing memorable about what I hesitate to call banter (aside from one time when Max references Fresh Prince). What’s even more frustrating is that their dynamic could have been made more interesting as Max's fish-out-of-water story or an unorthodox alien-Terran romance (though it barely qualifies, as she’s basically human), but we are denied both of these as Max has acclimatized and the romance is already built and is the victim of a lot of telling and not showing. It seems that Max’s Terran background is included for three reasons: to make cultural comparisons re: discrimination, to provide allusions to earth popular culture, and to make it easy to identify with him, yet as much as these worked I didn’t find they contributed to advancing the story.
The story does pick up considerably around the 40% mark when we get a new perspective - that of the antagonist. This gave the story much-needed depth and interest, as this character has a different perspective and his chapters provide interesting background on the villains. I perked up whenever a chapter title started with his name.
And then the novel goes full “save the world from a doomsday weapon” and I continued simply to finish, especially after what seemed like a big continuity error on behalf of the weapon.
I’m still giving it 3 out of 5, because it had a great deal of potential, and I did like certain things about it, but the things I did like didn’t outweigh the rest enough to bump it to 4.
I did think the title was rather clever given Lahra’s powers and the doomsday weapon.
I love light space opera, but I was underwhelmed with this novel.
It’s frustrating that I couldn’t like it more because it has a lot of things I love: female characters who are people and not just tag-along girlfriends, cool weapons, respectful romantic relationships, and alien cultures. Unfortunately, nothing about it was particularly innovative.
I think the main issue is that it feels like “book 2”. Instead of getting to watch a team grow and come together despite their differences, Max, Lahra and Wheel are already a functioning trio. Their dynamic is … a little boring. The reason why Guardians of the Galaxy (which the author mentions in his afterward) is so much fun is because the team doesn’t get along. It’s another reason why I also loved The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, Firefly, and pretty much every other sci-fi book/movie about a small group on a spaceship.
If the dialogue had been snappy this might have been ok, but there’s nothing memorable about what I hesitate to call banter (aside from one time when Max references Fresh Prince). What’s even more frustrating is that their dynamic could have been made more interesting as Max's fish-out-of-water story or an unorthodox alien-Terran romance (though it barely qualifies, as she’s basically human), but we are denied both of these as Max has acclimatized and the romance is already built and is the victim of a lot of telling and not showing. It seems that Max’s Terran background is included for three reasons: to make cultural comparisons re: discrimination, to provide allusions to earth popular culture, and to make it easy to identify with him, yet as much as these worked I didn’t find they contributed to advancing the story.
The story does pick up considerably around the 40% mark when we get a new perspective - that of the antagonist. This gave the story much-needed depth and interest, as this character has a different perspective and his chapters provide interesting background on the villains. I perked up whenever a chapter title started with his name.
And then the novel goes full “save the world from a doomsday weapon” and I continued simply to finish, especially after what seemed like a big continuity error on behalf of the weapon.
I’m still giving it 3 out of 5, because it had a great deal of potential, and I did like certain things about it, but the things I did like didn’t outweigh the rest enough to bump it to 4.
I did think the title was rather clever given Lahra’s powers and the doomsday weapon.
December 18, 2021
This is a little rambly, but I have scattered thoughts.
I enjoyed this a lot. I did think the pacing a little inconsistent—it dragged in the middle—and it felt a little like a second book sometimes, because of how much history was referenced between the characters. But overall, I loved spending time with the characters, enjoyed that the two main characters were married and seriously in love (no need to be a romance if the relationship is already established), appreciated the diversity in the alien species, thought there was a ton of witty humor, and several moral quandaries that invited deeper thought.
I also got a personal little amusement after I spent the whole book thinking, "Wow, this has a real Stargate feel to it" (along with anything and everything like Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider,—we had a lara/Lahra after all—Farscape, Star Wars, Firefly, etc, but mostly Stargate)—with the archeologist stepping through a gate and getting lost in space—and then realizing Max was referred to as 'son of Danielle.' Close enough to Daniel for me to call it a tribute, right? I'm running with it. It made me happy.
Lastly, as an aside, I recently read several books that I found recommended in a Fantasy Readers' Forum in which the OP asked for books in which martial women protect nerdier guys. (Totally my jam too, BTW.) Well, this may be Sci-Fi, but it fits the OP's request better than just about any of the books I saw recommended. (Except maybe His Secret Illuminations). So, if that's your thing too, pick this book up.
All in all, I don't know if a second book is planned, but I'd be happy to read it (or more of Underwood's work) if one is.
I enjoyed this a lot. I did think the pacing a little inconsistent—it dragged in the middle—and it felt a little like a second book sometimes, because of how much history was referenced between the characters. But overall, I loved spending time with the characters, enjoyed that the two main characters were married and seriously in love (no need to be a romance if the relationship is already established), appreciated the diversity in the alien species, thought there was a ton of witty humor, and several moral quandaries that invited deeper thought.
I also got a personal little amusement after I spent the whole book thinking, "Wow, this has a real Stargate feel to it" (along with anything and everything like Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider,—we had a lara/Lahra after all—Farscape, Star Wars, Firefly, etc, but mostly Stargate)—with the archeologist stepping through a gate and getting lost in space—and then realizing Max was referred to as 'son of Danielle.' Close enough to Daniel for me to call it a tribute, right? I'm running with it. It made me happy.
Lastly, as an aside, I recently read several books that I found recommended in a Fantasy Readers' Forum in which the OP asked for books in which martial women protect nerdier guys. (Totally my jam too, BTW.) Well, this may be Sci-Fi, but it fits the OP's request better than just about any of the books I saw recommended. (Except maybe His Secret Illuminations). So, if that's your thing too, pick this book up.
All in all, I don't know if a second book is planned, but I'd be happy to read it (or more of Underwood's work) if one is.
October 14, 2020
Farscape meets Tanya Huff's Confederation series - a fish out of water human in another galaxy, full of unusual alien species and politics and exploration.
More to come.
More to come.
November 10, 2021
Usually not a big Space Opera fan but I liked this one. It had more going for it than just a war in space. I liked the world building and the love story. Overall it left me wanting to know more so, good one!
December 2, 2021
DNFd at 19 minutes in because of language; 3 a, 3 sh, 1 f
July 22, 2020
I regularly read Seanan McGuire’s twitter. She often tweets about ARCs that she has read and enjoyed. I usually request those books from NetGalley, and I usually enjoy them. So when I saw Annihilation Aria, by Michael R. Underwood available, I requested an eARC of it. Sadly, Annihilation Aria did not work for me. Billed as a space opera, it felt more like space fantasy. It was long I’m tired tropes and short on new ideas and characterization. This book was all tell and no show. Two of the three main characters are supposed to be a married couple in love, but nothing they do ever makes me believe that they’re going steady, let alone married. The aliens have no distinguishing characteristics to differentiate them from each other. I was shocked when I found out that this was not the work of a first time author. In the acknowledgements, Mr. Underwood explains that he was trying to write a novel that recaptured the feel of the movie Guardians of the Galaxy (which to me feels much more cosmic comic than space opera, but I can see that that is a minor distinction). That made sense, since many of the story beats were lifted directly from that movie. The author also pats himself on the back for having his male protagonist be a black man from Baltimore, but absolutely nothing about the text made him seem any more than just a cipher, like all of the other characters. Furthermore, the third main character, not a member of the couple, a character named Wheel (get it? She’s a third wheel!), repeatedly betrays the couple’s trust by keeping massive secrets and nothing ever comes of it! The book is not all bad. It was mildly diverting but, overall, not worth your time.
August 19, 2020
I received this book via Netgalley.
There's something awesome about seeing a book grow up. I first read Annihilation Aria as an early draft several years ago. It was a great read even at that early stage and now it's all shiny and published.
This is pure popcorn scifi--a rollicking good time, with a fast-paced plot and relatable characters, including a bad guy who isn't so bad after all. You have a black man from Earth married to a fierce warrior woman from a decimated planet, their grumpy spaceship pilot, plus archaeology adventures in some loaded-with-traps alien ruins and an evil empire with a super weapon and, and... there's a lot going on here, and it's just so much fun. This is the perfect read to escape from the modern world and everything awful going on.
There's something awesome about seeing a book grow up. I first read Annihilation Aria as an early draft several years ago. It was a great read even at that early stage and now it's all shiny and published.
This is pure popcorn scifi--a rollicking good time, with a fast-paced plot and relatable characters, including a bad guy who isn't so bad after all. You have a black man from Earth married to a fierce warrior woman from a decimated planet, their grumpy spaceship pilot, plus archaeology adventures in some loaded-with-traps alien ruins and an evil empire with a super weapon and, and... there's a lot going on here, and it's just so much fun. This is the perfect read to escape from the modern world and everything awful going on.
February 17, 2021
There are just too many implausibilities, and ignoring basic science. I don't care if it's Space Opera, you can't just "walk around" on a fragment of a planet only a few tens of feet across, or travel to another star system on the back of a giant "space turtle" through normal space in just twenty days. Especially when "working our way through gravity wells" implies passing multiple other systems along the way.
I could suspend disbelief about the magical singing, the city inside a ship with full normal gravity, and even the "space locusts" at the very beginning, but the giant space turtles that can travel lightyears in just days without leaving normal space shattered it beyond repair.
Moving on.
I could suspend disbelief about the magical singing, the city inside a ship with full normal gravity, and even the "space locusts" at the very beginning, but the giant space turtles that can travel lightyears in just days without leaving normal space shattered it beyond repair.
Moving on.
July 29, 2020
ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
This took me a very long time to read because I had buddy reads and life busy-ness resulting in me having to keep putting the book down. IMO that's not the best way to read this book - you should probably devour it in two or three sittings, thereby benefitting from the momentum of the plot rather than having to rediscover it every time.
It sounds like mean praise to say 'this did exactly what it said on the tin' but I am honestly being quite warm and effusive. Not every book has to be full of challenge and surprise. Sometimes you want to know exactly what you're getting. It's an unfortunate bit of snobbery which has bled across from people who read literary fiction just because it's literary; that books which hit the tropes of their chosen genres and deliver exactly the dopamine rush a reader wants are somehow inferior. (Imagine this attitude applied to dining out. You don't want every burger or plate of sushi to be an adventure which you may or may not enjoy. If you're looking for familiar food that you enjoy, then you want a burger to fall within a given narrow set of parameters. Similarly, if you order a burger or a steak, you don't want the chef to send you Sea Urchin linguine.) I am aware I have really gone around the houses to avoid seeming to damn this book with faint praise so let's get on.
Underwood says in the acknowledgements that tis book arose from a desire to write something that made him feel like watching Guardians of the Galaxy. And that is what it does. A band of loveable misfits on a unlovely junkyard find of a ship, travel the galaxy, making ends meet by discovering ancient artefacts and selling them. This is no easy task in a galaxy oppressed under the Vsenk empire.
Of the crew, we have:
Max - an archaeologist and linguist from earth who found himself in the wrong galaxy when he accidentally activated an Atlantean artefact.
Lahra - a Genoan bodyguard of the soldier cast, who kicks some serious ass.
Wheel - an Atlan pilot, queer, grumpy and cybernetically enhanced
Cruji - undefined slime exuding beastie, bit like a furbie but with tentacles and empathic. (The ship's cat, kind of.)
The story gets going when the trio discover ancient Atlan artefacts which the Vsenk are keen to get their hands on. Vsenk, by the way, are enormous spacefaring instectile creatures with multiple limbs and tentacles, feathers and a culture that respects only strength in the form of cruelty and conquest. Everything goes down the toilet for the crew of the Kettle and they find themselves on the run with Vsenk agent, Arek, hot on their heels.
I won't spoil the plot but it's a fun space set adventure story peopled with strange non-human creatures, different cultures, and a quest to find out what the artefacts are. It definitely calls to mind Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Wars, Firefly and similar space opera adventures. One neat twist is that Lahra's people encourage the manipulation of matter and put heart in flagging troops by singing the songs of her people. This was a nice touch in terms of building the Genai culture and history as well as giving us a science-y type of magic.
This is very light on science. Honestly if you're expecting hard sci-fi, you've got the wrong book. This is first and foremost an adventure story about found family. Descriptions of alien species are via Max's pov and are deliberately a little vague. (The Drell and the Great Migration are my favourite!) My one criticism is that we never really seem to be deep in any of the pov character's heads. I didn't really feel what they felt. Then again, this light and entertaining read is not primarily designed for deep pov and emotional resonance.
All in all a very enjoyable read. Recommended for those who enjoyed Firefly, Star Wars and GotG.
This took me a very long time to read because I had buddy reads and life busy-ness resulting in me having to keep putting the book down. IMO that's not the best way to read this book - you should probably devour it in two or three sittings, thereby benefitting from the momentum of the plot rather than having to rediscover it every time.
It sounds like mean praise to say 'this did exactly what it said on the tin' but I am honestly being quite warm and effusive. Not every book has to be full of challenge and surprise. Sometimes you want to know exactly what you're getting. It's an unfortunate bit of snobbery which has bled across from people who read literary fiction just because it's literary; that books which hit the tropes of their chosen genres and deliver exactly the dopamine rush a reader wants are somehow inferior. (Imagine this attitude applied to dining out. You don't want every burger or plate of sushi to be an adventure which you may or may not enjoy. If you're looking for familiar food that you enjoy, then you want a burger to fall within a given narrow set of parameters. Similarly, if you order a burger or a steak, you don't want the chef to send you Sea Urchin linguine.) I am aware I have really gone around the houses to avoid seeming to damn this book with faint praise so let's get on.
Underwood says in the acknowledgements that tis book arose from a desire to write something that made him feel like watching Guardians of the Galaxy. And that is what it does. A band of loveable misfits on a unlovely junkyard find of a ship, travel the galaxy, making ends meet by discovering ancient artefacts and selling them. This is no easy task in a galaxy oppressed under the Vsenk empire.
Of the crew, we have:
Max - an archaeologist and linguist from earth who found himself in the wrong galaxy when he accidentally activated an Atlantean artefact.
Lahra - a Genoan bodyguard of the soldier cast, who kicks some serious ass.
Wheel - an Atlan pilot, queer, grumpy and cybernetically enhanced
Cruji - undefined slime exuding beastie, bit like a furbie but with tentacles and empathic. (The ship's cat, kind of.)
The story gets going when the trio discover ancient Atlan artefacts which the Vsenk are keen to get their hands on. Vsenk, by the way, are enormous spacefaring instectile creatures with multiple limbs and tentacles, feathers and a culture that respects only strength in the form of cruelty and conquest. Everything goes down the toilet for the crew of the Kettle and they find themselves on the run with Vsenk agent, Arek, hot on their heels.
I won't spoil the plot but it's a fun space set adventure story peopled with strange non-human creatures, different cultures, and a quest to find out what the artefacts are. It definitely calls to mind Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Wars, Firefly and similar space opera adventures. One neat twist is that Lahra's people encourage the manipulation of matter and put heart in flagging troops by singing the songs of her people. This was a nice touch in terms of building the Genai culture and history as well as giving us a science-y type of magic.
This is very light on science. Honestly if you're expecting hard sci-fi, you've got the wrong book. This is first and foremost an adventure story about found family. Descriptions of alien species are via Max's pov and are deliberately a little vague. (The Drell and the Great Migration are my favourite!) My one criticism is that we never really seem to be deep in any of the pov character's heads. I didn't really feel what they felt. Then again, this light and entertaining read is not primarily designed for deep pov and emotional resonance.
All in all a very enjoyable read. Recommended for those who enjoyed Firefly, Star Wars and GotG.
September 9, 2020
Another fun story from Underwood! I love space opera, and especially space opera with music (having written something along those lines myself), so I was excited to dive into this one. It has everything I love, from strange aliens, to different cultures, to relatable villains. I will say it took a little to get into the first part of the book, but once the other species start appearing, it's non-stop action until this end. Looking forward to the next one!
November 2, 2020
Probably 3.5 stars. I liked this one--it's an entertaining and fast-moving space opera, with empires and lost artifacts and found family kind of crew that just wants to keep moving and of course that crew is indebted to someone who can make their life miserable if they don't pay up. I kept having the feeling that I was missing something, though, and I wonder if Underwood wouldn't have been better served starting his apparent series with this crew coming together, instead of having them already together and then having to dole out backstory in little pieces here and there. While I enjoyed the book, I found real investment somewhat elusive.
May 8, 2021
I liked the story, the world, the characters and especially the narration of the audiobook.
Very entertaining space opera!
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Very entertaining space opera!
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
April 27, 2021
Pure little kiddy cheese 🧀
A mix of young adult guardians of the galaxy with keeping up with the Kardashians.
Childish dialogue, fantasy science, and repetitive plot elements.
A mix of young adult guardians of the galaxy with keeping up with the Kardashians.
Childish dialogue, fantasy science, and repetitive plot elements.
January 17, 2021
While looking for the next book to read, I was quickly taken by this book's synopsis and fantastic cover art. To me, “exuberant space opera” sounded like just the thing, then they mentioned “salvaging artifacts from dangerous galactic ruins” and I was immediately curious. Painted on a huge canvas that spans light years, this story gallops across fantastic places, lifeforms and action. The plot is a typical yet original tale of uprising against a tyrannical empire, a rather horrid bunch who viciously subjugate all and deal with objectors most harshly. Throw into the mix a good measure of Guardians of the Galaxy and you get this cool space opera. I liken it to a modern pulp sci-fi romp, designed purely to entertain and delight. I reckon that the author achieved and delivered a book that will appeal to people who adore fun reads. I suggest that this book will rate quite well across a sizable array of science fiction readers.
September 26, 2020
My first thoughts where that this reminded me of Indiana Jone's set in space. There seems to be significantly influenced by Star Trek; however, it also feels a lot like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy mixed with The Expanse. I love the aspects of music that is incorporated into the main plot and cultural setting. I found it hard to gauge where we were, and the story seemed to keep jumping around. However, toward the middle of the book, some consistency made the story far more interesting. The world-building was quite vague and would have like a more descriptive setting of both locations and species mentioned.
April 11, 2021
After 11 chapters I couldn't get into it. It wasn't as much rollicking fun as it promised. Maybe if I stuck with it but I decided to go on to authors I knew would keep and hold my attention.
May 28, 2021
What a fun read this was! By the end, I felt like I had watched a full-length movie in the best possible way. The first half reminded me of Firefly crossed with Indiana Jones, and the second half echoed of both Star Wars and Marvel. The 3 main characters are your classic, lovable trio: space pilot (Wheel), bad-ass fighter (Lahra), and brilliant nerd (Max). Together, they romp around space looking for old Atlan artifacts that they can mine for clues to their respective pasts (oh and also sell for money). It's the whole "find a job, keep flying" mentality, complete with a local crime boss and several satisfying action scenes where Lahra gets to kick some butt.
When one particular set of artifacts triggers a massive Imperial response, the team realizes that they have stumbled over something much bigger than they thought. The tone changes to more of a resistance movement as the team joins forces with others and races to crack the artifact's code in time to avoid complete annihilation by the Vsenk. Whether they succeed or not...well, I guess you'll have to read it for yourself!
There was so much to love about this book. There are strong characters who each have their own perspective and set of concerns. Lahra and Max have an admirable, balanced marriage where they support and encourage each other. I particularly enjoyed the antagonist, Arek. Far from being aggressive and heartless, his story shows complexity as he tries to thread a path through political manipulation on all sides. Finally, the action writing was very good - punchy, quick, engaging, and descriptive. Perfect for a 2-night read when I needed something relaxing and entertaining for the evenings. I'm looking forward to the author's next novel in this series.
When one particular set of artifacts triggers a massive Imperial response, the team realizes that they have stumbled over something much bigger than they thought. The tone changes to more of a resistance movement as the team joins forces with others and races to crack the artifact's code in time to avoid complete annihilation by the Vsenk. Whether they succeed or not...well, I guess you'll have to read it for yourself!
There was so much to love about this book. There are strong characters who each have their own perspective and set of concerns. Lahra and Max have an admirable, balanced marriage where they support and encourage each other. I particularly enjoyed the antagonist, Arek. Far from being aggressive and heartless, his story shows complexity as he tries to thread a path through political manipulation on all sides. Finally, the action writing was very good - punchy, quick, engaging, and descriptive. Perfect for a 2-night read when I needed something relaxing and entertaining for the evenings. I'm looking forward to the author's next novel in this series.
July 26, 2020
I heard of this book thanks to a Big Idea piece on Whatever. I read the kindle sample, and opted not to buy the book.
The Big Idea piece described this book as a space opera that explores what comes in a partnership after the happily ever after. That premise is definitely appealing to me, as I love character-driven SF. The main characters are a married couple: Max, an archaeologist and a black man from Earth; and Lahra, a member of her species's soldier caste, from Genae. They make their living raiding archaeological sites and selling the findings to descendants of the conquered races.
From the Kindle sample, this seems like a pretty standard action-heavy space opera. I found the narration a bit clunky -- very strong on tell-not-show. The opening description of Lahra was also a bit off-putting, as it was an info dump meant to make you think she's a total badass. It was male-gazey without being physically explicit.
The Big Idea piece described this book as a space opera that explores what comes in a partnership after the happily ever after. That premise is definitely appealing to me, as I love character-driven SF. The main characters are a married couple: Max, an archaeologist and a black man from Earth; and Lahra, a member of her species's soldier caste, from Genae. They make their living raiding archaeological sites and selling the findings to descendants of the conquered races.
From the Kindle sample, this seems like a pretty standard action-heavy space opera. I found the narration a bit clunky -- very strong on tell-not-show. The opening description of Lahra was also a bit off-putting, as it was an info dump meant to make you think she's a total badass. It was male-gazey without being physically explicit.
dnf
October 16, 2020This should have been a perfect book for me, but I just didn't care. Perhaps it was that the author didn't seem to take it seriously enough. It was showy and spectacular, but felt lacking in depth.
November 17, 2020
Less than ten minutes in and I'm totally bored! *May* be suitable for kids and young teens.
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