I'm not sure I actually like this book. There's a lot that is memorable about it, but there's also a lot that's...off-putting, I guess. I'll read it again one of these days and make up my mind.

This is a space opera in the grand old tradition, with a tyrannical, far-future society, genetic engineering, a small hidden band of rebels, and a young romance. (Gee, what does that sound like? The heroine is almost as amoral as Han Solo, but nowhere near as snarky.) The protagonist, Athena Hera Sinistra, ends up being a genetically engineered being herself, which I saw coming about halfway through the book. This idea is equal parts clever and squicky--the ruling class creates clones of themselves to transplant their brains into. Athena is the only surviving female clone, and is intended to become the mother of a master race--while hosting her "father's" brain.

This lifts the concept of "ewwwwww" to new heights. 

She also goes on a bad-ass rampage to rescue her husband from the clutches of her nasty, one-dimensional father. Seriously, she out-Jolies Angelina and out-Terminates Sarah Connor in her quest to save her hubby. Once she gets going, she shoots everybody in sight, rides an antigrav machine reminiscent of a witch's broom, outruns and outfights everyone sent after her, and pulls out the grand plan of getting her husband (who has the adorable nickname of Kit) out of her father's clutches and away from Earth with nary a scratch (which seems to me to be not realistic at all; at the very least, after being kidnapped and tortured, he should have some serious post-traumatic stress). Of course, there is a grand final fight between Athena and her father, with the old man meeting his demise crunched between the halves of an automatic airlock door.  

 Gah. That's more than a bit squicky too, now that I think about it.

My main objection to the story, though, is not necessarily the fact that Athena Mary Sue does all this--it's that she does all this while only being nineteen years old. She simply does not have the life experience to pull off this stuff. At nineteen, she should only be taking baby steps towards freeing herself from her tyrannical father, overcoming his brainwashing, and finding out who she really is. (At twenty-two, Kit also seems way too young to be doing what he's doing, as well.) Add at least ten years to her age, and the plot would have a great deal more credibility to it. 
 
Finally, be aware that Hoyt's publisher is Baen, which means the book has one of the most godawful covers I have ever seen. Apparently Baen is famous--or infamous--for this, which is not something to be proud of. Honestly, is there no sense of aesthetics to be found anywhere in the company? A scribbled stick-figure cover would look better than the one actually used for this book. 
 
I'll keep the book--for now. I won't make any promises, though. 

Tags: books i've read in 2011