Advance Review: WANDERLUST by Ann Aguirre

Wanderlust by Ann Aguirre
Release date: 26 August 2008 : Buy WANDERLUST!

The Fangirl’s Rating: A

Grimspace, the first book in this series, introduces us to Sirantha Jax, nav-star for the Corp who finds herself in a very dangerous situation. Wanderlust picks up immediately where Grimspace left off, after Jax and her crew have brought down the corrupt Corp and exposed the company’s dirty little secret: they crashed Jax’s ship to prevent a diplomatic conference from succeeding. Unfortunately, Jax doesn’t get a chance to rest and recover. After discovering that her bastard ex-husband had cleaned out her bank accounts, Jax takes the only route she can to get herself back on her feet; she takes up the post of ambassador to Ithiss-Tor, a planet unfriendly to the Conglomerate but that would be a necessary ally. And, as usual, Jax ends up embroiled in a much bigger conspiracy, one that threatens to take her life.

One thing I love about Aguirre’s writing is that it’s gritty. Jax does not get an easy ride at all; nothing ever falls into her lap, and she constantly has to work for everything she needs. This could come off as incredibly grim, but thanks to Aguirre’s masterful writing, Jax grows so much because of this adversity. A couple of times, I moaned, “oh no!” aloud while reading, but Jax and her crew always manage to think their way out of these situations.

The love story between Jax and her pilot, March, steps more toward center stage in this book, and like everything else for poor Jax, it’s not an easy ride. They are separated again and again, by bureaucracy, by warfare, by Jax’s own fear that she’s dying, and by March’s violent past. I think they’re a great couple in that they balance each other very well, but at the same time, I’m really hoping they’ll get some R&R in the next book, because if anyone deserves it, it’s these two.

Aguirre introduces more fascinating support characters and expands upon Jax’s existing crew in this book. Vel, the shapeshifting bounty hunter introduced in Grimspace, is one of my favorites, and I’m fascinating by Jael, the genetically altered mercenary. One thing I love about these books is that Jax obviously can’t do everything by herself. She constantly needs the support of her crew, and despite their supporting-character status, Aguirre develops them in such a way that they are tantalizing. We don’t know Vel’s or Jael’s histories, but we really want to know. I’m just as hooked on them as I am on Jax.

Wanderlust will be released on August 26, a little over a week from now, and you can preorder it on Amazon now. I definitely recommending reading Wanderlust as soon as is humanly possible. This is some seriously fantastic science fiction.