Representation: Side non-white character
Trigger warnings: Near-death experience, death of a character

6/10, I enjoyed this first book in a new YA sci-fi trilogy novel series, but it got boring as I read through more of the book. This novel left me with more questions than answers, and I had two questions that were left unanswered: Who put these terracotta warriors on different planets? Who are the looters and the shadow blobs? The plot revolves around an investigation on a planet where the looters killed almost everyone for no apparent reason, other than to steal the warriors, but what for? I realised that this plot went nowhere, and in the end, there was a confrontation between the main characters and the looters (this wasn't the first time this happened), which led to the main character nearly dying, another one killed, and a cliffhanger, so unsatisfying!
All the characters were either flat, vague, or stereotypical, especially Lan because after she died, the characters just used her research in the investigation and that's it. I don't understand why time dilation and the "crinkle engine", whatever that is, had to be used in this book, can't the author just make some of the characters not die due to time dilation? If you want a better sci-fi novel not set on Earth, try Dove Arising or Icarus Down, and skip this one, oh, and I won't bother with the next two books in the series even though my library has them but only in ebook form. ( )

A very cool concept but this didn't work for me on a number of levels.

1) I think Lyra was meant to be a quick witted and sassy teenager. Unfortunately in my opinion she came across as a bit immature and petulant instead.
2) My head hurt trying to understand the time travel thingy and I am still unconvinced that it was really even necessary in the story.
3) The book had so many things going on (time travel, terracotta warriors, looters, mysterious shadowy figures, worm-something, archaeological digs, romance, code breaking etc), but I feel like nothing much actually happened. All these exciting elements dressed up beautifully with nowhere to go.
4) A romance that felt unnecessary, a bit forced and not very...well...romantic.

I think the whole book needed to be a bit tighter. Cut out the social bits and focus more on the actual mystery, add in a few more action-packed near death experiences (that are actually on-page rather than having Lyra wake up after the fact), and then I feel this would have been a far more entertaining book for me. ( )

This book was soooo good!! I really enjoyed myself when I read it BUT there were a few rough spots. The writing was a touch sophomoric and it had annoying sentences like our MC "nods importantly"... (ummm, how is that accomplished?) and she was "leaking liquid sadness" instead of just saying she was crying. These few things did grate on my nerves.

YET the premise was unique, especially for those like me who flock to Space Operas like a moth to flame. AND just as dangerous as that scenario is, this book also came dangerously close to being labeled DOA and landing in the DNF pile.

Yet, again, I'm a sucker for a good Space Opera and this one was better than good in many ways. There was cool futuristic technology, science-y stuff, plausible futuristic hacking (worming) and an interesting take on a possible purpose for the existence of the terracotta warriors. There was action (though not brimming with it) and logic puzzles and a nascent amorous (YET kind of intsta-lovey type) enemies--> you're kind of cute--> I'll die for you Lovers Trope. The insta-love, one of my least favorite plot devices, niggled but didn't cause too much damage because I liked Niall's character a lot. YET, the chemistry between them felt a bit forced and stilted and all sorts of unnatural. This might have been due to our MC, Lyra a.k.a Li-Li a.k.a Mouse's inaccurate portrayl of what I believe a 17 year would be like. Now, full disclosure, I am most likely not the targeted demographic here and it may have been a millenia ago since I was 17 years old but I remember enough to know that Lyra definitely came off way younger than her nearly legal age claimed her to be. YET, she was very mature with her impressive logic brained, super sleuthing, cool(ish) under pressure, sick hacking skills and mad archeological prowess. YET, things came a little too easily to her as she managed to not only understand, assimilate and replicate nearly any task that was given to her... she did it with gusto and acumen to boot... another pet peeve of mine.

The other characters were interesting in their own right even if they weren't as fleshed out as I would have hoped. My favorite secondary and tertiary character's were (obviously her sort of insta-lovey) boyfriend Niall, his dad the big honcho Tace Radcliff, Beau (the other hacker planet-side) and... even though his screen time was minimal... the captain on the transport shuttle that brought them to Yulin.

Overall:
This book might have some flaws, some might even be considered blatantly taste offending flaws BUT I had a great time reading it and that is what's paramount to me.

Is this review harsh? Maybe. Is it mercurial? Definitely! I know this review isn't stellar (tee hee) BUT it is my (unadulterated) first impression. I might come back and alter my opinions later after being with it for a little while but for now, these are my unsolicited two cents.

I'm excited to see what happens next in book #2.

~ Enjoy ( )

This is a great science fiction/adventure story. Lyra Daniels doesn't want to go along when her parents go to a new planet. They are excited to find another planet with pits of the terracotta warriors that are like those on Earth. She knows it means leaving her friends behind on Xinji and never seeing them again. Space travel also means time travel. While days pass for those on the ship, years pass for those who are left behind.

One of the first people she meets on the ship is Niall Radcliff. He is ship-born and ship-raised and the last thing he wants to do is make friends with a passenger. It's the same time dilation thing. Once passengers leave the ship they are never again part of the crew's life. He is grumpy but attractive and a little bit too law-and-order for her. Lyra has decided to do some exploring in the Q-net which is a vast computer network that does everything from storing all data to managing space flight. She is her century's version of a hacker and a really good one.

Her worming brings her to the attention of ship's security in the person of Niall's father and also to the ship captain's attention. They decide to make her an intern for those who navigate the ship rather than place her in detention for her worming. There she learns much more about the Q-net and about navigating through space.

When they arrive at Yulin, their messages catch up to them. Lyra has some messages from her friend Lan who has grown up to be a cryptographer like her parents and who has devoted her life to studying an octagonal disk Lyra found that had a variety of symbols on it. The terracotta warriors on all the planets also have varieties of those symbols. Lan thinks she has made a breakthrough but, unfortunately, doesn't tell Lyra what it was. Also among the messages was the message that Xinji has dropped out of communication and that no life forms show in scans.

Lyra is determined to find out what Lan was trying to tell her. But things are not going well on their new planet. First, they discover that some of the pits have been looted which means they are all in danger from the looters. Next, Lyra discovers the way into a hitherto unknown lower level beneath the pits which contains devices, more warriors, and hearts covered with alien symbols. When she picks up a heart, it crumbles in her hand but it also lets her see shadow blobs that are also in the pits. Unfortunately, she's the only one who can see them and the rest of the scientists, including her parents, are writing her visions off as a symptom of concussion or PTSD.

When the looters come again, Lyra has to use all her talents on and off the Q-net to save the rest of the expedition and decipher what the aliens who seeded the planets with the terracotta warriors wanted.

This was exciting science fiction. It had great characters. It had a great romance too. I liked Lyra and liked her relationship with Niall. I can't wait to read Lyra's next adventure in CHASING THE SHADOWS in December. ( )

Navigating the Stars by Maria V Snyder is the first book in the author’s first SF series (she has many fantasy books under her belt already). It was also my first experience of the author’s work and I’m pleased to say it was a very positive one. I was drawn to pick up this book because the blurb intrigued me and I am glad I took a chance on it.

The first thing I want to say is that Snyder clearly did her research when it came to setting up a futuristic society. Not only does she bother to include time dilation in her interstellar travel — remarkable in and of itself since so many books take a lazy magically fast travel approach — but she also thought through the social ramifications of it. The story opens with Lyra, our protagonist, sad, angry and desperate over the fact that her parents will soon be moving to another planet for work. Since she is under 18 and has to come along, that means she will never see any of her current friends again. The way the research base kids deal with that situation struck me as very believable and it was an emotional scene to read.

The way they travel through space to distant planets is still a little bit magic, time dilation or not, but it was sufficiently well thought out that I didn’t find anything to complain about. Ditto the quantum computer that controls navigation and a host of other things. There was also a bit of maths-based problem solving that I found it quite plausible that Lyra would be capable of. In summary, this book gets my “physics done right” seal of approval. Oh, and there was also some realistic treatment of head wounds, which was refreshing to see.

Not ignoring the laws of physics wasn’t the only thing done right in this book. The story was engaging and I enjoyed Lyra’s voice and being in her head. The archaeological side of things, which Lyra was frequently involved with thanks to her parents, was also interesting and not overburdened by boring details. By the time the more mysterious elements of the plot came to the forefront, I was well and truly invested and couldn’t put the book down. (And now I am sleep-deprived.) the romance was probably the least interesting element of the plot, since Lyra’s love interest is literally the only other teenager insight, but he was a sufficiently interesting character that I didn’t get annoyed at him and actually worried for his safety (I may have forgotten that I was reading a Harlequin book at that point.)

I highly recommend this book to all fans of hard science fiction and/or YA. Snyder shows that lazy shortcuts to advance the plot (magic travel, ignoring concussions) aren’t necessary to make a story interesting and engaging. I was really pleased with the realism (yes, realism, even when strange inexplicable things were also happening) and the amount of research that clearly went into this book. I was trepidatious about how the ending would go and whether I would still want to read the sequel, but I am pleased to report that I am definitely interested in finding out what happens next (and that it didn't end on a horrible cliffhanger or anything like that). Bring on the sequel!

5 / 5 stars

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