The Guild - Book Review

The Guild (Guardians of Destiny #3)
by Jean Johnson

What is it about:
For centuries, the mages of Mekhana have done their best to hide themselves and their powers from the rapacious needs of their so-called Patron Deity, Mekha. Greatest of their secrets is the Vortex, a Fountain hidden in the heart of the Hydraulics Guild. But even after the dissolution of Mekha and the freeing of his people, Alonnen isn’t ready to reveal his guardianship to outsiders. Particularly when the remnants of Mekha’s priesthood start looking for a new monstrosity to worship.

Rexei has hidden more than her powers for most of her life; she has also hidden her gender, wary of the hungers of the old priesthood. Only in the safety of the Hydraulics Guild’s innermost secrets can she be herself. While the rest of her people struggle to reinvent themselves and find a deity they can trust, Rexei struggles to trust just one man, the Guardian of the Vortex. Events are moving fast, though; the priesthood is desperate for any new source of power, even a demonic one that requires certain sacrifices to access.

What did I think of it:
I've been in a difficult reading mood lately and had trouble finding a book to stick to after the first few pages. This book at least had me intrigued for the entire first chapter so I stuck with it to the end.

And it's a nice read.

It's steampunkish and doesn't even have an airship in it, so that was a big point in favor of this book. Too many authors seem to think they just have to stick an airship in their book to call it steampunk. At least this book had some actual steampunk elements.

I will confess I thought the bad guy was the most intriguing and could have used more screen-time, but Alonnen and Rexei were both enjoyable to read about as well. There are a few times in this book where talk about guilds and a new God got a bit long winded and boring, but mostly it's a nice story.

The romance was nice as well, although I could have done without the smexy talk: piston, cog-star, nethercheeks... It's like putting in that aforementioned airship: if talk like this is meant to convey a steampunk feel, it's not working for me (and it's not sexy either).

All in all this was an entertaining read though, so I might read another book in this series if I come across it.

Why should you read it:
It's a nice Fantasty-Steampunk read.

The Terrans - Book Review

The Terrans (First Salik War #1)
by Jean Johnson

What is it about:
Born into a political family and gifted with psychic abilities, Jacaranda MacKenzie has served as a border-watcher and even spent time as a representative on the United Planets Council. Now she just wants to spend her days in peace and quiet as a translator—but the universe has other plans...

Humans have long known that they would encounter more alien species, and while those with precognitive abilities agree a terrible war is coming, they do not agree on who will save humanity—a psychic soldier or a politician.

But Jackie is both.

After she is pressured into rejoining the Space Force to forestall the impending calamity, Jackie makes an unsettling discovery. Their new enemy, the Salik, seem to be rather familiar with fighting Humans—as if their war against humanity had already begun...

What did I think of it:
I read the first book in Johnson's Theirs Not to Reason Why series, and although I liked the world building and writing, I didn't connect with the lead character. So I decided to try this series. It's set in the same universe, but with a different lead.

And this book starts out really nice. I liked Jackie, I liked most of her crew, and I liked the world building. There was a bit of stretched out blah at the start of the book, but the premise had to be set.

Then they meet the evil Salik!

Those turned out to be froglike aliens with tentacle arms who like to eat their enemies while they're still alive. I was really getting into the story by this point, only to discover that the Salik were just a short interlude before this story turned into 'earth-humans meet related space-humans and they try to learn from each other'.
Hmm...

Still, the writing and story were still pleasant enough to continue, even though this turned out to be a much different story than I expected.

Then they reach Earth and the blah started up again!

I will confess I started skimming. Page after page there was political blah that dragged on and on! I was starting to hope the Salik would find Earth and start eating everyone just to put an end to all the unnecessary talking.

All in all I think I will have to admit that Johnson's books are not for me. I most probably will not pick up other books in this series, especially since I saw a review of book 2 that said it didn't have as much action as this one...

I will confess I am a bit curious if some things I predict will happen in book 2, will actually happen, so if I ever do see book 2 on sale I might cave.

Why should you read it:
It's a nice SF story about first contact between two groups of humans.

A Soldier's Duty - Book Review

A Soldier's Duty (Theirs Not to Reason Why #1)
by Jean Johnson

What is it about:
Ia is a precog, tormented by visions of the future where her home galaxy has been devastated. To prevent this vision from coming true, Ia enlists in the Terran United Planets military with a plan to become a soldier who will inspire generations for the next three hundred years-a soldier history will call Bloody Mary.

What did I think of it:
I'm in two minds about this book.

On the one hand it is a very interesting read. It follows Ia as she starts her military career and I very much enjoyed the view into the hard world of the Terran United Planets military. I also really liked the writing, the world building and the view of the future Johnson paints in this book.

What I did miss in this book is emotion. Ia is completely focused on the future and on nothing else. I would have wanted to learn more about her inner turmoil. What does she feel? Where does she find the strength to do what she does? Does she ever have doubts? That sort of thing. But apart from a few small moments Ia is like this super being who just keeps going and manages to overcome every obstacle without any problems.

This made that I had no connection with Ia, and apart from finding the setting and everything very interesting there was nothing else that made me want to keep reading. I wasn't invested in the story enough to care where it would lead to.

So in the end this was an interesting read, but I had hoped for more. I don't think I'll read the next book in this series, instead I think I will give Johnson's Sons of Destiny series a try.

Why should you read it:
It's an interesting SciFi read.