So, honestly, I have a to-read pile that could kill a small child. I’m currently looking at 25 books that I really, really want to get to on my to-read shelf in the office. I have 4 books to look at to possibly blurb on my iPad right now. It’s overwhelming.
I ended up getting sucked into A Red Peace even though it’s #26 on the list of books I’ve purchased to read and gotten in the mail because when it came in the mail, I cracked it open and started reading out of curiosity because it was on the table with mail and I had a few minutes. Then two hours later I finished it up before bed. I was a little uncertain of first person POV after a switch from the very quick prologue, but after a couple pages I sunk in and had a blast.
A Red Peace is a fast-paced, rollicking soap opera that is just the sort of thing I love. It’s not a big fat galactic adventure with a thousand points of view, it’s a stiletto of a book that gives you two points of view, drops you into the middle of a story all wound up, and lets the story go.
Like space battles? Got it.
Like creepy aliens? Got it.
Love plucky, blue collar down on their luck types living in the garbage but going on to do great things? Jaqi is that.
There’s more, I promised a quick review, so I’ll wrap up.
Yes, I’m a little less excited about the ‘half-breed human star navigator’ description in the book flap copy, it almost kept me away from buying the book because the term has such a freighted history for me as a mixed race dude, but Spencer shows there is oppression in the world and doesn’t make a landmine of it. I think the publisher mis-artfully used it on the back. I know it’s a long SF tradition, but, meh.
That aside, I gobbled this book up and recommend it, and was bummed I couldn’t pre-order the second book right now because I kinda want to do that before I am given a chance to forget about it.
This was fun, and some escapism right now is really fucking welcome.
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