Sara Creasy

In a universe where Old Earth is a distant memory and mankind has colonized numerous other planets, Edie has a unique gift: her skills are integral to the terraforming of newly discovered (or conquered) planets to make them inhabitable for humans. So when Edie is kidnapped by the crew of a rogue spacecraft, she knows immediately that they want to utilize her special talents for their own ends. To make sure she complies, they’ve assigned her a bodyguard: Finn is a lower-class former soldier show more whose job is to guard Edie’s life at all costs, and his brain will literally explode if she dies. Bound by a common desire to escape captivity, Edie and Finn must formulate a plan while trying not to run afoul of either their captors or the all-powerful corporation that runs the universe.

I don’t normally read much, but I’m trying to branch out, and this book seems ideal for someone like me: while there’s plenty of scientific-sounding jargon in the novel, at bottom it’s a very character-driven story. Edie is a typical heroine in many ways – tough, smart, scarred by her past – but I really liked that her strength was in her intelligence rather than physical prowess. The novel judiciously uses flashbacks to reveal Edie’s past in a way that gradually makes sense of the present. I also enjoyed Finn’s character, but I’d like to know even more about him and the development of his relationship with Edie. Good thing there’s a sequel! Overall, this book was a real page-turner, though not particularly cutting-edge for its genre, and I look forward to reading Children of Scarabaeus. show less

SONG OF SCARABAEUS is a winner. I don't usually like sci-fi, so I cottoned onto the book despite its genre, not because of it.

It's got some killer twists and turns, and Creasy set up her two leads - Edie and Finn - as opposites in every way. That makes the development of their relationship interesting as they feel one another out, and makes them a very strong team when they work together.

The plot sets off like an avalanche, and the pace is quick and exciting all the way through. But Creasy show more makes time for character development and backstory, too. At the beginning, Edie is abducted and her captors set a course for the planet Scarabaeus. A key event in Edie's past took place there, and the closer we get, the more we learn about what she did and why. Once they arrive on Scarabaeus, the biggest shock isn't finding out who the bad guy is. It's seeing the consequences of choices Edie made years before.

These plotlines, one extending forward and the other back, weave together really well and work as a whole. The romance element is strong, but not dominant. The writing itself is elegant, a pleasure to read, and the worldbuilding imaginative and interesting, without ever crowding out the story.

Highly recommended. show less

I loved this book. Wonderful characters, fast paced action, strong world building, and immersion into the world instead of info-dump, which I always prefer. I haven't read much Sci-Fi, but I love the Sirantha Jax series and this one ranks right up there with Jax. Scarabaeus is more sciencey and technical than Jax--the main character, Edie, is a hardcore bio techie, and with the quick immersion into the world, she's throwing futuristic tech terms around and I'm like, whoa, slow down! Not show more confusing, per se, but not fly-through reading, either. But once I got 30 or so pages in, I was off & running.Edie is a wonderful character, a woman who uses her brains to beat the bad guys. How novel. ;) And she is so wonderfully empathetic, and able to see the gray when others only see black and white. I love that in a character. And a real person, for that matter. ;)I usually don't love female characters who need a man to physically protect them, but Edie & Finn have a great partnership--if Finn's muscle doesn't solve a problem, Edie's brains do, and vice versa. Not everyone can kick ass, all I ask for is a female character who has something to offer. Besides her womanhood, of course.And Finn. Love him. A strong, stoic, tortured hero. My fave kind. A war vet who was neither decorated nor honored, instead, he ended up a POW/slave. I always love reading about guys like Finn, and watching him learn to trust again, and to begin caring again about the world that shit on him so badly. Baby steps. But I like baby steps. It's just so much more realistic. I'm not a fan of characters who undergo a lobotomy because they've met their stupid soul mate. Gag me. show less

You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2011/03/release-day-review-children-of.html

*Please note: My review is relatively spoiler free, but assumes you've read Song of Scarabaeus. It might be a bit confusing if you haven't:)

Children of Scarabaeus picks up a week after Song of Scarabaeus, with Edie slowly withering away, her body deprived of the drug she needs to stay alive: Neuroxin, distilled from the native plantlife of her homeworld, Talas. If Edie dies, so will show more Finn, as the chip inside of his head that links them explodes. Aided by Cat Lancer, pilot and ally, she and Finn are on the run from the Crib, who wants Edie back at any cost. They plan to fly to the Fringe, and use the cryptoglyph Finn is carrying in his head to help liberate the Fringe worlds from their reliance on Crib technology.

The trio hitches a ride on a ship filled with migrant workers in cryosleep, waiting to be awakened when someone needs their particular skill. Edie is understandably terrified at the idea of being put into cryosleep for an indefinite period, but Cat sets the timer for 15 months, and Edie creates bios and skillsets for them so that they might be awakened earlier. Unfortunately, the Crib finds Edie, and 13 months after going into cryosleep, she finds herself on a Crib vessel, at the mercy of Natesa, the woman that can force her to use her skills to further the plans of the Crib and systematically turn ecosystems across the universe into the “Terran ideal”. Edie discovers that Natesa is training a new batch of children to see “an ecosystem in flux as damaged, and the Terran ideal as the cure,” and when she realizes that they aren’t afraid to use the children for more nefarious means, the stakes all of a sudden become much, much higher.

I adored Sara Creasy’s first novel, Song of Scarabaeus, and was more than eager to revisit Edie and Finn’s universe. Children of Scarabaeus is just as good, and I think I liked it even more than the first! The passion between Edie and Finn burns through the pages, and the frustration they feel as the mental leash keeps them from consummating their relationship is palpable. I rooted for Edie and Finn from the start, and Finn’s need to protect Edie, as well as her desperation to keep him close to her and safe makes everything they go through that much more urgent. When Natesa finds the infojack that created the leash and is ordered to cut it, Edie is terrified this could kill Finn, not to mention the thought that he might choose to leave her behind. The real shocker comes when Edie learns of widespread famine in the Central world, and the project that she’s assigned to is designed to prop up these worlds for a limited amount of time, after which the ecosystems will completely fail. How can Edie possibly stop this from happening, without killing herself and her friends in the process?

I love the science and world building in these novels. When Edie jacks into the datastream, the pathways of an ecosystem are like “music”, and you can almost visualize the zipping, soaring colors as Edie works her magic. The author’s descriptives are also so good that a relative sci-fi newbie (like me) can easily keep up with the narrative without feeling out of the loop. I’ve had this happen before with “hard” sci-fi, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Not that there’s anything wrong with the genre, but I ended up concentrating so hard on trying to understand a fraction of the science that I couldn’t enjoy the story. Not so with Sara Creasy’s work. And the story is the best thing about these books. Wonderful character development, a lush, fleshed out environment, suspense, romance, and a multi-layered storyline makes for great reading! Sara Creasy is an auto-buy for me, and I’ll look forward to getting my hands on her next book! show less