Cathy's Reviews > Fortune's Pawn

Interesting set of characters. Devi, the likeable main character, was nicely kick-ass and self-assured. Mysterious Rupert, ethereal Nova (Luna Lovegood), silent Ren and the other side characters were good additions.

The suspense of the story didn't exactly keep me up at night, but was interesting enough. Attacks, fights, scary aliens, strange planets, conspiracies, mysteries, good stuff.... The fight scenes felt like playing a first person shooter, with Devi pulling the trigger. A bit more snark or humour would have been great. At least for the first two-thirds of the book I was mostly happy.

But then the romance happened. Not quite Instalove, but close. And kick-ass supersoldier Ellen Ripley Devi turned into a girl. Could have done without the romance. Or less of it. Or with Devi sticking to her principles. I did not enjoy that. I also got a bit tired towards the end of hearing how awesome and special her suit is. We really got it. Faster, tougher, more accurate, Lady Gray was awesome. Didn't need to hear it again all the time though.

The world building was ok, but ultimately not satisfying. Everything was just hinted at. I would have liked more background on Paradox and its social structure. Or the conflict between Terra and Paradox. Or more details on the xith'cal.

Liked the fight scenes. Liked the mystery. Liked what happened with the bugs and the black (sorry for the vagueness, don't want to get too spoilery), hated what was done to her in the end (view spoiler)[(really not a fan of the amnesia trope, totally unbelievable and silly in this case, she doesn't remember his name after months on the ship? Pleeeeeeeease!) (hide spoiler)] and will most likely not continue with the series because of that and the increase in romance schmoop. And the not so favourable reviews of book two and three...