Karin Lowachee

This is a book that starts very strong, but then loses steam. It was marketed as the new Ender's Game, but I don't think it's that similar, other than the superficial coincidence of having as main character a boy who has some emotional trauma and who is trained as a warrior.

It is a heavy story, with a lot of emotional trauma, abuse and rape of boys (the latter heavily implied rather than graphically described). In the beginning we start with Jos as an 8-year-old boy, victim of the attack of space pirates, who kill his parents and all other adults in his ship and enslave the children. All this is told in second-person, which I almost always hate, but here it works because of the traumatic nature of the story. Psychologically, it makes sense that a child's mind would try to put distance like that.

Later Jos falls in the hands of the strits and their sympathizers. The strits are an alien race in war against the human EarthHub. With them, there is a group of human sympathizers who betrayed EarthHub for their sake, led by a war leader nicknamed the Warchild.

The first part of the novel, when Jos is taken as a slave by pirates and when he is with the strits, is quite interesting, and very emotionally intense. I was enjoying it a lot. However, after that the author's limitations as a military SF writer become evident. Neither the details of space fighting, nor the behavior of the military characters are convincing.

The story is at its best when it deals more directly with psychological trauma, conflicting loyalties and emotional manipulation, and it's not that good when it focuses on fighting and spying. It's the first part of a trilogy, although it can work as a standalone.… (more)

Quick Word: Oh, how I wanted to like this one. The prose was flowing and lyrical, and all the characters had the potential of being, and occasionally were, fascinating. But the plot was lacking in structure, and there just wasn't enough to pull off the story despite the encouraging themes of prejudice and imperialism. Three stars because of the originality of the blended historical setting. And truly, I loved the concepts of the supernatural Dog spirits and how the Anwi girl was so strong and pragmatic.… (more)

I really wanted to like this book, as I fully support the idea. Unfortunately it has some serious pacing issues. The first third drags and could have been condensed to maybe two chapters without any loss. The ending however rushes forward, and while it doesn't quite end in a cliffhanger, very little is resolved but instead sets up the second book (which doesn't exist). I find all that disappointing. More than that, though, most of the characters aren't very dimensional or appealing, so it's hard to struggle through the dragging. Nothing that sparked my interest ended up being fully developed in the story itself. Maybe a better read for someone who likes a different style than I do.… (more)

I loved Warchild, the previous book in this series, and I'd heard that Burndive focuses on a different, less likeable character. But Karin Lowachee does not disappoint! Burndive is an outstanding follow-up, focusing on Ryan, the son of Captain Cairo Azarcon whom we met in the previous book. Ryan is a difficult character to like but Lowachee writes him with a lot of sympathy and he grew on me as the story progressed. It was also interesting to see old characters from Warchild, particularly Jos, through Ryan's eyes, particularly Jos, who was the main character of that book. There's some hilarious banter between the characters as well.

While Burndive lacks a lot of the action of Warchild, it was still an engrossing read. I was drawn in by the emotional journey that Ryan takes in navigating and ultimately mending his relationship with his father. The author is extremely skilled at writing emotionally true stories, and her careful, controlled prose is dripping with raw emotions. The characters face many difficult situations, and Lowachee never makes it easy for them, but it's through this that her characters truly shine.

An outstanding book overall, and highly recommended!… (more)