Edward Willett

First things first - despite our protagonist being 15 years old this isn't apparently considered a YA fantasy. Look I don't pretend to understand what makes this book a YA book and what makes that book a YA book - I guess it comes down to marketing and where the publisher thinks the book will do best in the case of books like this - but there isn't really anything in this book to make it not suitable for 16 year olds. Hell maybe even 15 year olds depending on how they like their fantasy (if they read more Rae Carson, Kristin Cashore and Sarah J. Maas as opposed to Shannon Hale, Jessica Day George and Gail Carson Levine then this book is fine for them). Fact remains this is a book starring a 15 year old girl, surrounded by a good portion of the cast roughly near her age.

And terrible things happen. Because when don't they when you're the Chosen One. Which make no mistake Mara is very clearly The Chosen One. I was seriously waiting for the reveal that she was "The Lady of Fire and Pain"s grand daughter or that she was secretly the Autarach's daughter. Because seriously, she's that special.

The first half of this book I was enjoying myself. Mara was a spirited, mostly intelligent considering her age girl who had all the insecurities you'd expect in a 15 year who's life was just torn apart, pieced together wrong and forced through a hole three sizes too small. No one tells Mara anything ever. They say things at her. They dance around topics. They come up with vaguely comforting but utterly useless platitudes. But no one tells her anything. Which really mattered very little since until the Masking her biggest problems (in this order) were 1) her daddy was ignoring her for the last two months, 2) her best friend became the Queen of Ice and 3) she thought she was a huge fraud so she could be sentenced to a life of hell. Maybe. Probably.

Mara's time with the UnMasked Army was also similarly fun, though shallow by in large. She got SOME answers and as a reader we realized MORE answers then she could hope to, but it was another case of "we'll tell you if its necessary do as we say".

And then came the single stupidest act in a novel I've ever read. Well..okay it maybe wasn't as bad as a couple of those Harlequin romances I read, but this honestly ranks up there. One of the kids that was rescued, Grute, was through and through dirty and despicable. Blake doesn't even try to shade this kid, just makes him straight up awful. He's imprisoned by the rebels and pretty much left that way since they have no idea what to do with him (several people suggested DEATH and to which I agreed). If they had better plans they never bothered explaining them and it didn't matter since Grute escaped.

Grute who had sworn to "take care of" Mara on several occasions, leered, sneered, made crude comments, attempted indecent actions and was in general happy to pull wings off of birds has escaped. Remember this.

Mara, god love her soul, thinks this means its a GRAND TIME to go and take a bath. By herself. In the most isolated place you can imagine because she'd be damned if she stunk of high heaven if one of her crushes happened by. You can probably guess what happened then. And thus begins the second half of the book in which Mara does every stupid ass thing you can think of. I understand why Blake had her refuse to leave Katia behind. But after the third time of trying to rescue that ungrateful girl you'd think Mara would have put the wellfare of EVERYONE ELSE first. But no! She would save Katia because they were besties! The best part is when Katia slaps THAT idea down unequivocally.

And honestly the entire second part was one way too contrived coincidence after another. She had 9 lives or something. As for her magic...ugh. Since we're only given the barest of ideas of what the "magic" was and where it came from its hard to really understand what was going on there. The magic is running out because the Autarach is...sapping it? To seem youthful? Or something?

The next book promises pirates (I think? There's a ship on the cover and a shipwreck soo...) and Mara going batshit crazy dark. Considering the number of dead people you can lay at her feet that should be interesting to see.… (más)

Willett, Edward. Lost in Translation. DAW, 2006.
Lost in Translation by journeyman science fiction author Edward Willett is not so much about language as it is about the power of empathy. As a child, Kathryn lost her parents in an interstellar war with a satanic-looking winged species. Jarrikk, a member of that species, is rendered flightless when humans shoot him down. Jarrikk and Kathryn are rescued by the Translators’ Guild, which brokers peace and trade between species. The best translators are those with empathic skills. Jarrikk and Kathryn form an unlikely bond that supercharges their empathy and makes them the keys to interstellar peace. Willett uses a shifting third-person point of view to keep us engaged with both characters. Nicely done. 4 stars.… (más)

Cooper "Coop" Douglas has been a part of many things in his past: questionable trading, Pre-salvaging (which is a kind of stealing) and conning/lying/misdirecting almost daily, but never has he stumbled upon something so big that it could change the universe forever. In THE TANGLED STARS, by Edward Willett, "Coop" has evidence that the MASTT space tunnel system that imploded and rocked the universe over a hundred years ago is beginning to reform and he wants to take advantage of it to pay off his debts and reset his status in the universe. Each plan he makes seems to not go quite right and he has to make a new plan, with each one more dangerous than the last. Can Coop, with the help from his AI enhanced cat, an old flame, and a motley crew of other pirates and criminals, prove to all of existence that the MASTT system is in the early stages of viability again and reap the benefits he so desperately yearns for, or will he get caught and imprisoned or killed in the process?
Willett has created a vibrant, intricate future with very specific details that really enrich the story. Coop is great as a lovable scoundrel who tries to do the right thing, even though can't help but be a little greedy along the way. The book settles into a rhythm, where a problem in the plan causes Coop and his group to make a new plan, then a problem arises and another new plan must be created and so on. A little repetitive, but the unique solutions and twists in the story keep it fun. Coop's old flame, Laysa Grey, is along for most of the ride and I wanted to get to know her a little better; she seemed a mystery in her motives at times and other times almost wishy-washy in her convictions. The supporting characters, human and AI both, added colorful layers to the plot throughout the book.
Willett's book is really one long mission for a man to find his way to a better life and I really enjoyed going on that mission with Coop Douglas.
Thank you to DAW, Edward Willett, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!… (más)

The Tangled Stars is a space opera following Coop, a thief; his cop-slash-revolutionary ex, Laysa; and Thibauld, an AI-uplifted cat, trying to make the journey from one solar system to another. On the way, they need to steal a ship that can make that journey, avoid the space-cops, and keep a loan shark with a grudge from swiping said stolen ship - sometimes all simultaneously.

Like others, the AI cat was what drew me to this book. I generally prefer my sci-fi on a TV screen rather than a book, but for a cat as a main character, I was willing to give this a try - and I'm glad I did. Willett has clearly spent a lot of time crafting the world the characters inhabit, and it keeps the reader engaged in the story throughout. I never really felt like there was a lull in the action, or that the info-dumps were too excessive. While the human characters do seem to fall into cliche at times, the story itself felt fresh and new, and that kept this from being an issue for me.

I have two complaints, one more nit-picky than the other. The first is that there is a minor amount of continuity errors. An example of this is Thibauld shrugging in one chapter, and then chapters later it is mentioned that Thibauld is a cat and thus can't shrug. There are also a lot of pop culture references and idioms, which isn't a bad thing, but it did feel a little tedious having to read about how no one knows where they came from anymore. On the same token, there are things that don't really seem to make sense in a futuristic galaxy - are Christmas tree ornaments as we know them today still the same that far into the future?

The other thing I had an issue with is the fact that, after a certain point, the book relies too heavily on the plot. I find this happens often in genres like science fiction and fantasy, and while it may not be an issue for others, as someone who generally goes for character-driven stories, it might feel a little empty in comparison, especially considering that the characters do fit pretty snugly into archetypes. However, that's probably more a reader's issue than an issue with the book itself, and I'll fully admit to that.

Altogether, though, this was a fun read, and I'm glad I picked it up. It kept me reading and entertained to the end, and - assuming this is the first in a series - I would happily pick up the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and DAW for providing a copy for review.… (más)