As someone who isn't in the book biz, publishing seems completely ass backwards sometimes. One example is the practice of sending back unsold books to the publisher so that the seller gets his money back. No other industry works like that. Another example is e-books. When a e-book author has finally made it, his/her books are reprinted on luddite technology. Several years ago when I first heard about e-books and went about trying to find more information about them, I came across Linnea Sinclair's work. Of course, I didn't buy any of her books then--I will freely admit that I am shallow in this instance. E-book covers are universally terrible and pretty much nothing will induce me to buy one on that point alone. Thus, e-publishers will have to either hire people who actually has an iota of talent in the art and design department or not put any covers on their offerings at all.
Anyways, here are my thoughts on Sinclair's work (although the mere fact that I read three of her novels back to back in a relatively short amount of time probably says it all):
Games of Command. As the Alliance forms when two warring factions--the Triad and the United Coalition--makes peace, Captain Tasha Sebastian is assigned to serve on a mixed crew headed by none other than her former nemesis, the biocybe Admiral Branden Kel-Paten. They first investigate some mysterious deaths which has a personal resonance for Tasha's best friend, Dr. Eden Fynn, but they are abruptly sidetracked by a space storm that conveniently deposits Jace Serafino, a wanted rebel, right on their doorstep. But with Serafino's appearance, everything starts to unravel, including the Alliance.
I particularly enjoyed (insert evil laughter here) the main character angst involved--Tasha going into all sorts of contortions so that Kel-Paten wouldn't find out that she used to be Lady Sass, an infamous rim runner, and Kel-Paten endlessly agonizing over whether or not the object of his unrequited affections viewed him as human or a machine. But let's just say that Games of Command would have totally worked if it weren't for those darned furzels. I think it was the baby-talk that killed it for me. Well, that and the contradiction that the furzels were "natural enemies" of the Ved even though it had been explained that the Ved were genetically engineered. Now if those furzels had talked like really edgy LOLcats, a lot more could have been forgiven. Other than that, it was an entertaining piece of space opera that didn't attempt to shove any serious messages onto the reader.
An Accidental Goddess. After defending Khalaran territory in a dangerous maneuver during a space battle with the Fav'lhir, Gillaine Davré a Raheiran Special Forces captain finds herself waking up three hundred and forty-two years in the future on a Khalaran space station. And if time traveling wasn't enough, the Khalarans had managed to elevate her status to that of a goddess in the intervening centuries. But when she ends up on the space station, people only assume she's a rim world trader (or maybe even a smuggler) who ran into some bad luck. So all she would have to do is to dodge the suspicious questions of Rynan "Mack" Makarian, the admiral in charge of the station, and she would be home free. However, things aren't so simple when Gillaine realizes that the Fav'lhir are still lurking around, not content with their defeat three hundred years before.
This was probably my favorite out of the three, one because it reminded me of Star Trek: DS9 (the few early episodes I did watch, anyway) and second, the sheer wackiness of some of the plot devices which would probably make An Accidental Goddess more science fantasy than science fiction. I was also quite amused in how the author used a futuristic situation to illustrate the inanities of religious commercialists and frauds. The only sticking point was Gillaine's surprising nonchalance at her one-way time traveling. Why did she never grieve or worry that all the people she knew before were now dead? Why didn't she even attempt to contact her fellow Raheirans to get her bearings on what was happening? At any rate, that is a minor quibble as I thoroughly enjoyed the story, wackiness and all.
Gabriel's Ghost. Chasidah Bergren used to be an upstanding captain in the Sixth Fleet patrolling the Empire until she got court-martialed for a crime she didn't commit and sent to an inescapable prison planet. After killing a prison guard in self-defense, however, she comes face to face with Gabriel Sullivan who was supposed to be dead. Sullivan is a dangerous rogue mercenary, who offers Chasidah freedom if she joins him on a perilous mission to stop a conspiracy from breeding the terrifying jukors--creatures with no other instinct than to kill. But there are no clear cut villains as the conspiracy infiltrates trusted superiors, friends, and even family.
As a space opera, this story had enough twists and turns to keep one happy. As a romance, the use of first person was rather questionable. Even unreliable, perhaps. Once the reader finds out that Sullivan has extensive skills in mind manipulation, how can you not question the reactions of the narrator? There were situations when Chasidah did not notice Sullivan altering her perceptions, so how would she know that what she was feeling (particularly her love and trust towards Sullivan) was real? Does she really even know her own mind even as she tells the other characters (and the reader) that she does?
. As the Alliance forms when two warring factions--the Triad and the United Coalition--makes peace, Captain Tasha Sebastian is assigned to serve on a mixed crew headed by none other than her former nemesis, the biocybe Admiral Branden Kel-Paten. They first investigate some mysterious deaths which has a personal resonance for Tasha's best friend, Dr. Eden Fynn, but they are abruptly sidetracked by a space storm that conveniently deposits Jace Serafino, a wanted rebel, right on their doorstep. But with Serafino's appearance, everything starts to unravel, including the Alliance.
