Grimspace by Ann Aguirre is a space opera featuring Sirantha Jax, a jumper with a special gene that allows her to travel through grimspace, guiding spaceships across vast distances. The plot revolves around Jax's journey as she navigates through interstellar wars, political intrigue, and personal challenges, all while forming relationships with intriguing characters like March. The writing style is fast-paced, engaging, and filled with world-building, romance, and action, offering a blend of adventure and character development that keeps readers hooked.
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Notes:
Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings may include themes of death, mental distress, and violence.
Has Romance?
There is a romantic subplot that develops, but it does not overpower the main narrative.
From The Publisher:
As the carrier of a rare gene, Sirantha Jax has the ability to jump ships through grimspace-a talent which makes her a highly prized navigator for the Corp. Then a crash landing kills everyone on board, leaving Jax in a jail cell with no memory of the crash. But her fun's not over. A group of rogue fighters frees her…for a price: her help in overthrowing the established order.
Ratings (26)
Incredible (3) | |
Loved It (8) | |
Liked It (7) | |
It Was OK (5) | |
Did Not Like (2) | |
Hated It (1) |
Reader Stats (48):
Read It (25) | |
Want To Read (15) | |
Did Not Finish (2) | |
Not Interested (6) |
2 comment(s)
Grimspace takes readers into a world that resembles pieces of "Battlestar Galactica", "The Matrix" and "Firefly". It's an enjoyable mix of sci-fi, action and romance.
"Grimspace means inexorable, implacable." But it's beauty keeps jumpers going back, "driven on by a jones stronger than anything mankind could devise. Jumpers burn out smiling for a reason." Jax has the rare J-gene, which allows her "plug in" to the ship and navigate it through space.
The story begins with Sirantha Jax waking from a dream in her cell, where she's been placed by her Unit in the Corp while they
"assess the damage to {her} psyche". She's been incarcerated since she was the only survivor of the crash on Matins IV {a planet}.
The Psychs don't just test and question her, they try to break her, insisting she tell them what happened ...
What happened when?? What's going on?? You may feel a bit disoriented in the beginning of the story, but the readers learn everything all in due time, but by then you are already hooked on this interesting sci-fi tale of jumpers, spaceships, Space Corps and unnervingly attractive ship captains and don't mind that you initially had no idea what was going on. We're quickly thrown into Jax's world and, if you're like me, you'll like what you find.
Jax is rescued by March and his team to become their navigator. At 33 years old, she's the longest known living jumper who has
"logged ovr five hundred successful jumps and more new charts for the Corp than any navigator ever. There are people who would like to know the secret to {her} success." She's been with the Corp for almost 14 years,
"averaging forty-one jumps a year for a total of five hundred seventy-five successful runs". The average jumper burns out in less than ten, so she can understand why someone would be interested in finding out what makes her tick. But, Jax quickly learns that the crew despise her. They've lost a lot trying to get to her. Now, they'll all do whatever it takes to get her safely to the group that's hired them and complete the mission.
The other members of March's crew have an interesting history. They are all colorful characters, Dina being the most colorful of them all. Her sense of humor cracks me up.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I look forward to reading the rest of the series. Thanks to those that recommended it to me and thanks to Yz for her July challenge that finally got this book off the shelf and into my hands. :)
FAVORITE QUOTES:
"Life goes on whether we want it to or not. And laughter is a constant." (MARCH)
"{The Mother} Mary teaches us that's how you change the world, one soul at time, one kindness at a time. That's the only way it'll ever take root." (ADELE)
"For the first time I grasp that bending doesn't necessarily mean weakness. Defiance doesn't always equate to strength." (JAX)
A really good ensemble space adventure, if a little rough around the edges. I like Jax's voice - self-deprecating, sarcastic, and independent. It reminds me of
Farscape or
Firefly, with the ragtag band on the run and all that.
At the same time you can tell this is a first novel. The romance is good, but the happy ending felt a bit forced, as if Aguirre didn't trust the relationship to stand up with anything less than "I love you." First person present tense feels a bit creative-writing-class to me, but Aguirre makes it work because Jax doesn't know if she'll survive another day; she's very much living in the moment.
The one thing that really didn't work for me is the idea that Jax used to be a spoiled semi-celebrity. Maybe because we meet her after such traumatic events have happened, I just can't make that work with the personality in the book. Which is okay since I don't think I would like the person she "used" to be, but I found it a bit jarring.
What can you read after
Grimspace?
About the Author:
Ann Aguirre is the New York Times bestselling author of the Sirantha Jax series, the Enclave series, the Corine Solomon series, and The Dred Chronicles.
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