Jean Johnson (1)Reseñas

Quick Word: Only one story was worthwhile, another was alright and two were... unpleasant... to read. (Did't even get through the last two.)

I can't help it. I really like this series. I'm perfectly well aware that its heroine is larger than life. Ia's powers are humongous and one of them is precognition, so she never has to doubt her decisions. She knows exactly what the consequences of her actions will be. The evil guys are really evil. Well, perhaps not really evil, because in their case its just their particularly flavour of xenopsychology, but still. They don't know when to quit, so there's no reason to feel guilty about wiping out an entire race (and no, that is not a spoiler; anyone reading this series knows that that is what Ia has prophesied from day one). So, there's no need to worry, because everything will happen Ia's way, even if the tasks thrown at her are just as humongous as her powers are. That way Ia has an excuse to almost run herself into the ground several times (a ploy I'm not really fond of; I'd much prefer it if we could start admiring heroines who know how to take care of themselves instead of walking an talking burnouts waiting to happen).
But in the end, I just like Ia. I like her knowing everything. I like the world she creates around herself, the friends she makes, the loyalty she inspires. I'm very glad the book ends the way it does, anything else would have been a bit sappy. Now, it ends the way it should.

There were several bits in the beginning that were too disjointed for me, but then I was in tears in the last quarter of the book, so I think 4 stars is fair. I really have to see what else Mrs. Johnson has written...

I rather enjoyed this book, but I must admit that it is not very good. The author gets too hung up on protocol descriptions. And clothing descriptions. And speeches. Those are arguably the worst. Yes, I understand the whole lack-of-jungen thing is a big deal, but the repeated speeches about how unacceptable the V'dan behaviour is can easily get on your nerves. Plus, it is seriously unbelievable in some places. I understand prejudice can be insidious, but the V'dan have been hit over the head with the error of their viewpoint. I am sure this does not always change the way they see things, but at the very least they know that those viewpoints are unacceptable, so to air them in a critical moment when giving medical aid to someone who has been attacked seems a bit much. Particularly when said medical worker blames the victim for being attacked. I don't believe a well-trained professional would have said anything of the kind if the victim had been a true juvenile., so that should translate to not saying it here either.
Despite all that, I liked reading this book. I guess I enjoy methodical descriptions and some self-righteousness at times... And one really good point is that both the Terran and the V'dan society are truly without misogyny. With the major cliffhanger at the end, I immediately continued in book 3.

Shoot! This is the last book in the series so far, the next one hasn't been written yet. I hope Jean Johnson is a fast writer... Again, I loved this book. I had a moment of boredom during one of the battles at the beginning, but after I again enjoyed this book the way I did the previous two. I liked very much that there was a scene where Ia relaxed a bit (at one of the Wakes, the parties aboard the ship Hellfire), and I would have wanted a few more of those. Yes, I know Ia has to save the world and doesn't have time for parties, but it would have been nice if she could have saved the world with a few minutes to spare. It lightens up the book a bit. In this book, there were also some things that went wrong, which I think is a good thing with Ia being a massive precog. It shows some vulnerability on Ia's side. This book also shows a bit more about the Feyori, which was very interesting (and also resulting in a lighter scene that I liked very much).

Like I said in my previous reviews, I'm not sure why I haven't gotten bored with a protagonist who foresees everything yet, but somehow I still want to know how everything will play out, and I'm hoping the next one will come out soon. If it had been there already, I would have started it immediately, meaning I would read all four books in a row. Too bad I have to wait now...

Entertaining first-contact SF with good female representation. Pacing can be a bit slow sometimes, but since that was exactly what I felt like, that was fine by me! The characters are a bit too perfect and a bit too powerful to make this really exciting, but again, that was what I wanted. Comfort-read for me!

As the others in the series, not exactly brilliant, but enjoyable.

The second in a military SciFi series which is a lot of fun with an interesting cast of characters and premise.

One of the most well-written precog protagonists I've read. Her powers are powerful but the author manages to skirt the trap of omniscience by relating it more to probabilities and finding her way through the Many Worlds style timeline options.

I really liked a lot of the key elements, while being thrown in places by a lot of the systemic assumptions made throughout. Felt a lot like I was reading a series of short stories, many of which were very good, but...

*shrugs*

Disjointed in a lot of ways.

Much fun.

Now I want to read the whole series, I'm curious as to what happens next.
Ia is a precog and she can see a future, far into the future and the only way she can see a change is if she becomes a space marine, she has to keep tweaking things to keep the universe safe. Some of it she doesn't really want to do but she feels a need to.
She also needs to get her family to help her.. To become what the universe needs them to be in order to put in play her long-term plan to save the universe. To save the universe she has to treat a lot of pieces as pawns and she sometimes finds it very hard..
I really enjoyed this as a read and I want to see how that's going to develop.

This is a very generous 4*, unfortunately the 5* system isn't very good for ratings, especially if one can't select a 1/2*.

I have to admit this series has been growing on me. It has taken awhile for me to really get comfortable with her power level, yet now that I have accepted it I find the story more compelling.

Fast. Fun. Same as the rest of the series.

Damn, the final book sure did pack in the "feels".

This series was fun, fast and very enjoyable.

Conflicted

I like the universe and the writing style. I didn't like the fact that it was basically void of conflict. By that I mean 2/3rds of the book is reasonable people doing reasonable things to reach a mutually agreeable conclusion. There are a few minor points of conflict that may become interesting in the next book, but nothing really bad happens. The final resolution is bland bureaucratic decisions.

I will probably purchase the next book because I like the universe and the author, but I hope there is a better design to the pacing and structure. Some conflict to resolve at the end that doesn't end up feeling almost anti-climatic.

It ended well

Unfortunately, most of the book was made up of reasonable people having reasonable conversations about the same problem. Over. And over. And over. A bit boring. Diplomats being diplomatic does not make for riveting prose.

The last 1/5th of the book had some movement and ended with an off-screen space battle that resolved into a very momentous declaration. The presence of one particular character was actually the worst decision in the book.

I loved the original series. This is shaping up to be much like Star Wars: 4, 5, & 6 rocked; then there was 1, 2, & 3. Still readable, but not something I will ever consider reading again.

I will most likely buy the next in the series because I ^do^ like the universe and I have invested the time.

Been awhile

It’s been a while since the last novel in the series and I forgot what was going on. Made it tough to get traction in this book.

The sex overwhelms the story in this novel. The plot is thin and needs more development. The ending feels a bit rushed, even though it hits all of the various elements.

I will probably still read the next one when it comes along, but this is not a good sample of the complexity of the author’s writing.

Awesome reading. Start with The Sword then finish with Finding Destiny in order. You can't go wrong with that. Morg is awesome and patient. He didn't have to wait, but it made it better for him to wait.

What more can I say...she is a great writer. You just have to read it.

It wasn't bad now that I know about the Sons of Destiny. I love her writing.

Great book. Jean is a great writer. I love Dom's twisted mind to snare his bride. But her's is more wicked.

While not a romance, I want Ia to have romance. Incredibly engaging, so much information and yet not enough. I want more and can hardly wait for the next one.

Compellling, OUTSTANDING read. I read this none stop Ia continues to try to save the world from annihilation. I can't wait until December for the final book in this series and also sadden that it will be coming to an end.

The final book in the series. It's jam packed, with action and self reflection on her motives for all her actions. I loved this whole series. I hope she will continue to write these kinds of stories. Very poignant.

The Fae Rii (Fair Traders) enter a new world to set up a new trading post, but our discovered before they are ready by a tribe of refugees. Their magic is very powerful in the new world and as they make agreements with the refugees to protect them in exchange for them following there rules. Making two cultures work takes diplomacy but works well, until a warring Tribe tries to take all they created. Jinytaya is their leader and Ban is her protector