Absolutely 100% loved this book with every fiber of my being. Glorious, appropriate ending to a glorious crazy ride.



(let's continue the trend of how I open these reviews eh?) So you're a kick ass merc who, through no fault of your own find yourself flung through hyperspace unguided with the ship mate you formerly was repulsed by, but found out you share an intense relationship with that he wiped from your memory for your own good just so you wouldn't be chased from one end of universe to the other. Luck being the bitch it is you run into your former lover (who told you about the cursed ship that landed you in this mess), your former captain is part of the detail that is hunting you down and shooting first, asking questions later and oh yeah that pesky attraction to Rupert....

What would you do? Well if you're Deviana Morris you threaten EVERYONE within an inch of their lives and then do the reckless thing just because you can.

Please let us take a moment to mourn for Lady Gray, who valiantly and without fear fought with Devi through everything. Never once faltering and always, always being the wind beneath her wings. Even more then Rupert.

As the final book in what was a roller coaster thrill ride of a trilogy, I was hopeful this would live up to all my expectations. Bach has, through this trilogy and her fantasy series (under Rachel Aaron), never given me room to doubt that she will end with a bang. Her characters don't know what "quiet" or "subtle" even means quite frankly. Even the ones who claim they do (looking at you Rupert). And since Devi is hell of a lot more of a ACTION YEAH chick then anyone in the Eli Monpress books ever was, I expected a lot of explosions and fighting.

Bach didn't disappoint.

Let's get this out of the way--awwww Rupert! That man...he's just...there are no words for this man that would do him justice. Not since Valek have I been so enamored of a fictional guy before. He could literally do NO wrong in my (or Devi's apparently) book. Shady past? Big deal. Shady present? Pfft who cares. A way with words that could charm a girl out of her Paradoxian armor quicker then you could say "Sacred King"? Oh my sainted stars.

I liked that Bach had Devi seriously consider every angle about what being Rupert would mean. She doesn't take any of it lightly and doesn't allow Rupert to underestimate her. When Devi wants something nothing in the universe will stop her from having it. Her dream of being a Devestator led her to join a cursed ship with a 100% turn over rate on security personal for crying out loud. The two finally communicating on equal terms did a lot to making me handwave some of their less then smart moments.

The resolution to Devi's problem, as well as the Phantom problem and the Daughter system and Ma'at and even Rupert's issues was so freaking easy I almost laughed. Not that getting it done was easy, but the actual trigger was really easy. At one point Caldswell says that they should have just talked to Rupert and Devi and worked with them instead of fighting with them. Well duh.

And Devi is, as always, marvelous. Whether its when she's fighting to stay calm (her mother always said her anger would be the death of her), struggling to understand the Phantoms or having a truly divine moment Devi is Devi. Her choice is almost always 'hit it until it stops', but you know what? You can't argue with what works. ( )

http://bactra.org/weblog/algae-2020-07.html#bach ( )

This series did not end well for me and I am saddened. I felt like I was reading a space version of Twilight. All romantic angst all the time. And that was not what I was signing on for.

It wasn't bad or awful, it just really went off on the relationship tangent more than anything else in the story. ( )

This started extremely slow and dragged for some 4 chapters but then it started unfolding into an ending so good that it made up for everything.

And I'm impressed the story was actually structured for 3 books, everything made sense, each part followed very logically and not once have I felt that the author is struggling to invent stuff as it went along but rather that this was carefully planned since the first page of the first book.

I liked it. ( )

Devi Morris isn’t just having a bad day; ever since she took on the security role on Caldswell’s ship her life has been one disaster after another. She has been in the centre of government conspiracies, two alien species are after her, and there is another alien virus that is trying to kill her. The thing to do would be to hide, keep her head down and hope that it all blows over; but she has never worked that way. She has had enough of running and wants to take the fight to them.

But this might be just more than she can handle.

The final book in the series is just as action packed as the previous two, but this time the Devi has backup from the Symbiont Rupert. And boy does she need it. She starts to get the measure of the power that the virus gives her, finds a way of communicating with one of the alien species, has a spectacular escape action from all sorts of close scrapes too.

But it was a little too neat in the end. Which is a shame as the previous two have been good solid military SF books. ( )