Fiction / Dystopian Fantasy
321 pages / 3138 KB
3 Stars
I so wanted to like this book. To really, really like it.
And parts of it were great. But parts of it weren't.
The premise of the Firstborns being the haves, and their
younger siblings being the have-nots, or slaves, was and is an interesting
premise. In fact, that was the main reason I read the book. Frankly, I enjoyed
the heck out of the world Bartol created, but I wish she'd done just a wee bit
of research on the military. (Hint:
Military Recruiters are over worked and under paid. You want information, bribe
them with a good lunch in a nice restaurant, use their proper rank/name in your
Acknowledgements, and give them two signed copies when published. If you're
writing about enlisted, bribe the enlisted recruiter; if you're writing about
officers, bribe the officer. If you're writing about both, buy two lunches!)
Now, I realize most of the readers probably haven't spent
time in the military, but I must tell you, that's what threw me out of the
story the most often, and why this book only received 3 Stars. It would have
been fewer stars, but I really, really, liked the idea. (If you want some good
female soldier stories, try Elizabeth Moon's books.)
Our protagonist is perfect. She is beautiful, buff as Demi
Moore was for G. I. Jane, men fall in love with her, she has no enemies, and
when she does, she is seldom wounded and never for long. Well, maybe a couple
of enemies like her mother, her brother, and a Census agent, but they don't
count. Do they?
Spoiler: The book is not a self-contained story. It leaves
off as she sort of wraps up one adventure only to head off into another, but
there is no resolution.
Will I read the next book? Maybe. Do I recommend this one?
Yes, with reservations.
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