nope, this first novel didn't work for me despite its ambition. i like space opera settings, but here the main character did not appeal, the planetary settings didn't come to life, there were a lot of dull parts, and i rapidly tired of the repeated tendency of the characters in action to stop to argue instead of acting in emergencies. and the tone of the whole thing felt kind of adolescently petulant to me, though the characters were more in their early thirties. ( )

DNF

I tried to read on but I had zero interest in where the story is going or in the main character.

I do think it's a case of 'its not you, it's me'. Sometimes I loved the way thinks were described but most of the time I was annoyed with the main character (see status updates).

And now I'm annoyed because I really wanted to like this one. It had all the ingredients I look for in a book.

Now excuse me while I go read some teen fanfiction with Lydia and Allison. ( )

Alanna Quick is a sky-surgeon and she loves her job. Repairing spaceships, getting to know their beating hearts, is what makes her come alive. The only problem is that there is less and less work for her. The new technology of Transliminial Solutions is making her obsolete. Less work means less money. Less money means less chance of her and her Aunt Lai saving enough to get their Mel’s Disease cured. They can barely scrape enough together to afford the medication that eases the symptoms and delays its onset.

So when a ship comes looking Nova, Alanna’s sister, Alanna seizes her opportunity to leave the dirt behind and fly off into the Big Quiet. What she’d always dreamed of doing.

There is a lot to enjoy about this book. It gives off a Firefly vibe when talking about the ship, The Tangled Axon and her crew of misfits who have become a family. Alanna is the outsider trying to become a part of the crew. And if you are looking for protagonists who aren’t your usual white men then this is the book for you. There is a diverse cast of mostly women1 with a variety of sexual orientations. Not that the book is purely about anyone’s sexuality, it is simply that sexuality does to making up who people are. And Alanna likes women. She likes ships and work more, but in a different way. And she really likes the Captain of The Tangled Axon.

It was also refreshing to read about a character who wasn’t at peak fitness. Alanna has a degenerative disease. It causes pain and eventually it will kill her. She must constantly battle against it’s symptoms and try to live her life the way she wants.

I enjoyed the read. It kept me entertained and there are some parts that really work. The main problem I had with the book is that while Alanna is so well drawn and so alive the supporting cast is less so. At first I was wondering if my lack of engagement in the love story element to the plot was down to the fact that it was a lesbian love interest. And frowning at myself. But then I realised that I didn’t really engage with any of the character interactions in the way I would have had they been as well defined as Alanna herself was. That is always a risk when you read a first person narrated story, the narrator can only tell you what she sees/hears and so we don’t get as much character motivation and development from the others.

Still, on the whole Ascension is a well told, enjoyable science fiction story, and if space ships with hearts and technological threats and space mystery are your thing you should give this one a go. It is, however, not hard sci-fi, so be prepared for the focus to be on character rather than the science.

This is my first read2 for this year’s Diverse Universe, the author Jacqueline Koyanagi was born in Ohio to a “Japanese-Southern-American family” and her twitter profile describes her as “Queer, biracial, FMS, autism spectrum, non-monogamous.” ( )

Thus had some debut novel stumbles, but I really want to read more from this author! ( )

A science fiction love story about a woman stow away on a ship with an unusual crew. This is for the most part a love story and done well. The plot of the story is mainly background and has many holes and the pacing is off. The love story part is interesting though. The end adds a layer of complexity to the story that ruins the story. It all of sudden adds many different elements to the characters and the world and then ends. The main character having a disability added an interesting element. All of the side characters have a unique trait but then are written pretty much the same. Overall good love story, decent science fiction story. ( )