Reviews and Comments

There's a lot of sex in the first 31% (according to Kobo) of this book and I have to put it down because writing that makes sex this tedious ain't for me.

So far, Merry Gentry:

• gets a microphone implanted in her bra with a roomful of men, many of whom leer because it's just polite to harass a faery
• goes undercover and we get a magically caused but still lustful rape including a mysterious magical faery occluded in a darkened mirror and spiders
• a near orgy when being questioned by skeptical police
• magical sex that restores a seal faery's ability to become a seal again
• an exhibitionist shower scene for the benefit of the boss
• a boring ass chase scene on Sepulveda Blvd where unseen monsters poke holes in the side of a van
• and an I'll show you mine if you show me yours scene with a stomach snake faery

None of them make much sense and drag on with how sexy and good at sex faeries are because eye color and auras and somesuch

I gave up.

Osaji feels stifled by life on Benn, a water planet where humans live in biological arks that float beneath the surface and which supply their needs in the water environment. Benn is very polite, and people are not adventurous. Jack Halliday is an offworlder stuck on Benn for some reason which I've forgotten, and he feels even more stifled.

A disaster strikes the cluster of arks, and Osaji, her grandmother Mota, and Jack find themselves on a disconnected ark outside the protected gulf where everyone lives. They get to go on an adventures, reconcile their differing viewpoints on life, and along the way get to view the unknown life that populates the wilder parts of the Bennite ocean that noone has ever encountered.

Solid hard-SF novella. Everyone has a personality, even if they are a bit archetypical. Fun imagining of a human society and its biological support that could be on an underwater world. That everyone lives in one protected area and noone has surveyed the rest of the planet seems a little contrived in order to tell a story of exploration & adventure. But I've also seen worse setups.

Henry Thompson is living the life of a fugitive in Mexico, where his stolen money goes a lot further than in the US. And where he's a lot safer. Until a Russian shows up, recognizes him, and tries to collect the money. Henry survives the encounter, but concocts a plan to return to the US.

So thus begins the new descent, which follows a lot of the same plot elements as book 1. Multiple groups chasing Henry for money he doesn't have in his possession but which he could theoretically lead them to. Bad guys betraying other bad guys. People getting killed, many of them by Henry himself.

The main differences this time? Henry doesn't feel quite as bad as before when he hurts people. And instead of being chased through the streets of New York, he's being chased from Mexico to California to Las Vegas.

Still fun, but doesn't feel as new.