Wanderlust

Sirantha Jax is about to learn that breaking the Corp's hold on the world was just the beginning of her troubles. Sure she's gotten justice for the death of her lover and crew, and exposed the crash that the Corp arranged and tried to pin on her to the Conglomerate. But now a powerful piece of the world government system is missing and visionaries and bullies from all over are trying to take up the slack.
So when the Conglomerate offers to make her an ambassador, Jax finds herself not only in need of the job, but also in a unique position to be one of the first Conglomerate citizens to make it to the home world of a notorious race of insect-like beings. If only she can get past the space pirates, civil wars, the Syndicate and her own show more mother first.
Like Grimspace before it, Wanderlust is more than just a story about a girl who navigates space ships through the unfathomable depths of grimspace (something akin to wormholes and subspace pathways combined). This story is about Jax, shattered spirit and failing body, in the middle of a complete life upheaval trying to figure out which pieces fit, which don't and what to do with her new sense of responsibility and loyalty. It's hard not to be paranoid and hopeless when everyone seems to either want to kill you or kill for you, when even your body is betraying you and life seems unwilling to give you the time to heal. Aguirre takes readers there, to a flashy science fiction world with a dark side where even the planetary civil wars, human-eating aliens and missions to save the world fade under the compelling clutches of the small band of characters that have come together under enormous pressure and against monstrous odds just to do what they think is right.
Wanderlust is an exciting new tale in the science fiction genre which captures the humanity in even the most odd of aliens and takes the reader for a nonstop action ride that's hard to put down. show less

I liked this second installment of the Sirantha Jax series quite a bit, and the character is growing on me.

Following straight from the end of book 1, Wanderlust sees a huge change for the former Jumper: she's offered the role of ambassador to forge an alliance with an alien species that might prove instrumental in withstanding the threat from an invasion force.

For someone already familiar with this world and this character, the offer sounds strange, to say the least, considering there is no one less diplomatic and ambassadorial than Jax. And yet Aguirre manages to create the right circumstances leading to this and to frame them into a developing situation that promises to be quite interesting. Parallel to the "big picture" of galactic show more politics and social upheavals, Jax's personal journey takes unexpected directions that are very promising for the continuation of this series.

The greater part of my enthusiasm in embracing this story-arc comes from the realization that Aguirre did not follow the expected path with her character, especially in the lack of happily-ever-after with March, and in the twist concerning the after-effects of her ability to jump beyond the normal time frame for run-of-the-mill Jumpers.

I've found some remarks about how Jax seems very dependent on others, reacting more than acting to various situations, and I think the main reason comes from her transformation, both psychological and physical. One could say that in this installment she is in chrysalis form, and only at the end of the book she will finally start to unfold her new wings, tempered by adversity.

In this second book she finds purpose and a goal, and this new Sirantha will be better able (IMHO) to deal with the man March has turned into: due to a particular set of circumstances, the two are driven apart, forcing Jax to give up her emotional reliance on the man and in this way bolstering her inner strength. The old Jax would not have reacted well to the darkness he's carrying after his harrowing experience on Lachion, but the new one has learned how, or at least is willing to try.

Moreover, in this book a new character has come to the fore, after being barely sketched in the previous one: I have quickly developed a fondness for the insectoid Velith and I like the way he's forging with Jax a bond based on mutual respect verging toward trust and friendship, and of course important changes.

There is a moment, toward the end of the book, where Jax understands that the people surrounding her, her friends and allies, are her responsibility, and she seems to take strength from this, not the other way around. This is going to turn into a compelling journey indeed. show less

I absolutely loved and adored the first Sirantha Jax book (Grimspace) when I read it way back February 2014. And yet, AND YET! it took me a whole year to purchase and then read the second one. But all is well, because I own the third one and I do not want to wait that long to read this book, because I am seriously loving this series.

The Sirantha Jax books actually remind me quite a bit of Karen Marie Moning’s Fever books. They’re soft scifi, so are much more emotional, character-based and world-based, and don’t get too into the technical details of the scifi universe. Similar to how the Fever books aren’t high fantasy – they’ve made them very accessible to people who aren’t super familiar with genre reading. The characters show more are relatable and understandable in both. And there’s so much action right from the beginning that you don’t really have time to wonder if you’ll like or get the universe before being thrown into all of the excitement.

There was quite a bit about the characters and events that I had a hard time remembering when I first started the book – I remembered generalities about Sirantha, March and Dina, but that was it. Thankfully, because this book got into the action so quickly, there wasn’t a lot of time spent trying to figure out what happened before. Important events were mentioned enough in passing that they served as a good reminder about past events. Anything else seems to not be too important to this book (though that may change as the series progresses!). That said though, it was definitely necessary to read the first one before this, as it does continue with certain themes and other events grow from where they had started in the first book.

We were introduced to a handful of new characters in this book as well – particularly Hit and Jael, both of whom I really enjoyed. Actually, especially Jael – he’s a genetically engineered human who can heal himself very quickly, is super strong, and smart, and is used to people everywhere fearing and hating him even though he is a pretty awesome dude. Oh, I do like him; I have a feeling that he is going to be an even more interesting character as the series proceeds.

I really could have done without the relationship between Sirantha and March. It’s at That Angst Stage. You know what I’m talking about. I got sick of YA books because of “omg! All the anxt!”

This has become one of my preferred scifi universes. I love the universe that Aguirre has created, and really wish there were more than just this series set in this universe. Even at 6 books, I feel like there could be so much more explored in here – and not just from these characters. I want to know more about the different worlds, more about the Syndicate, more about Grimspace, and all of it! Gimme more! (Edit: Ohhh, apparently there’s another trilogy set in this universe – The Dred Chronicles! Yes!)

I don’t expect that it will take me too long to actually get around to reading the third book in this series, and I am very much looking forward to it.

The Bottom Line
If you aren’t sure whether you’d be into scifi books, this series would probably be a good place for you to start. It’s so much fun, doesn’t talk a lot of technical stuff like some scifi does, and has an amazing cast of characters. I am really thoroughly enjoying these books! show less

Can I just say how much I am loving this series?! Jax is paranoid, fatalistic and basically the universe (including her own mother) is out to get her but she is infinitely likable due to her honesty and that quirky trait of fragility cased in bravado. She never fails to spout off some irreverent smart-alecky remark in the midst of tragedy and pain without seeming flippant and I think it makes me love her all the more. We meet a variety of new characters in this second book and I loved them all. I am especially curious to see what becomes of Jael – he’s got quite the past (and future) it seems. I love Jax’s transformation from galaxy superstar to responsible ambassador – albeit in trademark Jax fashion. And March – poor crazy show more March. I think I bawled the entire chapter where he makes the decision to stay and help Keri’s clan fight their war – and Jax’s reaction to him. There is so much going on in these deceptively fast-paced novels that I immediately went back to reread several of my favorite parts after finishing each one. I can’t wait for more! Gentle readers beware there is quite a bit of language.. show less

With Farwan's fall the Conglomerate is scurrying to keep control over things. Siratha has been summoned to the conference room for the umpteenth time expecting to be put through another round of questions. She's surprised when she walks in to see March and the others, whom she's been separated from since the day of upheaval. The Conglomerate wants to make Jax an Ambassador and help them with a mission to Tarn with the bounty hunter Velith as the liaison to help. Then Jax's mother shows up... As Jax goes on her journey she heads back to Lachion to see Doc as something is slowly happening to her. Now things are starting to get even more dangerous in space with Farwan gone. Will it be better or not with out Farwan's control? Will Jax be show more able to succeed her mission as Ambassador or will she be sidetracked and trouble find her?

I have to say I am liking the new characters in this book. And to meet Ramona Jax, Siratha's mother. Nice. She shares some big pieces of information about Jax and the story here. And we bring together a few new people into the crew, and I'm hooked on them. I do hope they stick around a while longer. And the old characters, well, we keep them around and learn soooo much more about them... good and bad. I like how these characters are taken to a brink and grow from there. Some grow to be leaders and others start to break apart. But this is where we leave off and leave us wanting more.

Here the world opens up and becomes more dangerous to Jax and everyone in it. The fall of a powerful controlling unit has left the outskirts of space, and even closer areas to the Central system of the Conglomerate open to raids and damage by dangerous human eating creatures and pirates looking to turn a profit.

Jax being in her new position doesn't realize she can attract attention and trouble quicker than normal now. When she appears at places there are thoughts of armies coming with her, or even assassination attempts on her. Her newly acquired position could end up being the death of her faster than the jumping was. And if not death, at least the destruction on the universe.

Another good read of Siratha Jax. This book seems to be the one leading you into Doubleblind. So have Doubleblind ready for you when you read this one, as you'll want to keep going with Jax on her missions. I will definitely be continuing with the series as I'm hooked. show less

Yea, so, this is borderline my type of thing. It's space! Yay, space! But I have trouble with the writing style. It's very close first person and you get all sorts of running commentary in her head. But that's not even the tricky part. The tricky part comes when she has conversations with people and they make leaps of logic and intuition that I sometimes have trouble following.

It's like talking to twins, or best friends, or to people who have been married for awhile. They take shortcuts and know what each other is talking about, but even though I'm in the head of one of them, it's still tricky for me!

And like, that makes sense when she's talking to her telepathic boyfriend. It doesn't make sense when she's talking to other people. Why show more are they all on the same wavelength and leaving me out of it?

Also, fighting, fighting, fighting just isn't the sort of thing I'm keen on reading about. show less

2nd in the Sirantha Jax trilogy. Second installments are tricky, and this one I found a little frustrating. I really love that Velith is back and has a prominent role. I was also very pleased to see that Aguirre remains adept at adding new and fascinating characters to the mix (Jael is particularly fascinating!). The Aliens-like portion of the book where they are battling the Morgut was terrfying. The war on Lachion dragged on and on - way too long. Both because i was tired of Jax whining on about being sick and missing March, and because I just generally hate war as a setting for anything. Things get a little more interesting when they are "kidnapped" by the Syndicate...

Ultimately, I guess I was a little disappointed because I was show more actually looking forward to getting to Velith's world and seeing how that diplomacy was going to go -and you you won't get there in this book. It looks like *maybe* they're set up to arrive in book 3, but at this rate, who knows. Still looking forward to reading it. :) show less