There are only three real powers in the Spiral: the corporate power of the Trust versus the Union's labor's leverage. Between them the Guild tries to keep everyone's hands above the table. It ain't easy.
Branded a Guild deserter, Jal "accidentally" lands a ride on a Guild ship. Helmed by an AI, with a ship's engineer/medic who doesn't see much of a difference between the two jobs, and a "don't make me shoot you" XO, the Guild crew of the Ambit is a little . . . different.
They're also in over their heads. Responding to a distress call from an abandoned planet, they find a mass grave, and a live programmer who knows how it happened. The Trust has plans. This isn't the first dead planet, and it's not going to be the last.
I had high hopes for this one but it fell short. The characters are rather one-dimensional with often very clichéd dialogue and mannerisms. There is an attempt at world-building but it remains rather vague as to what the Guild really is and does (apparently, they're supposed to be "the good guys" but they don't come off like that at all in this book) and howit would realistically work. The villains' plan is also pretty bad and ill thought-through. There are some interesting bits but not enough for me to check out the next book in the series.
This story is carried by its characters. The plot is pretty interesting, which augments the enjoyability, but the focus is entirely on the main crew. Their chemistry and interactions are quite good. There's a lot of found family trope elements, and if that is your jam, you're going to adore this book.
I was intending to give this a full 5/5 ranking, but after about the 60% mark is when I started binge reading it, and I have to say--this isn't a book that stands up well to rapid binge reading. A lot of the dialogue is funny, but it's "quippy one-liners" funny and after hours of solid reading, it began to grate on me more than amuse me. The book started to feel a bit like an action blockbuster movie made by Marvel. There was a little too much repetition on certain things--key phrases and memories, like flashbacks in …
This story is carried by its characters. The plot is pretty interesting, which augments the enjoyability, but the focus is entirely on the main crew. Their chemistry and interactions are quite good. There's a lot of found family trope elements, and if that is your jam, you're going to adore this book.
I was intending to give this a full 5/5 ranking, but after about the 60% mark is when I started binge reading it, and I have to say--this isn't a book that stands up well to rapid binge reading. A lot of the dialogue is funny, but it's "quippy one-liners" funny and after hours of solid reading, it began to grate on me more than amuse me. The book started to feel a bit like an action blockbuster movie made by Marvel. There was a little too much repetition on certain things--key phrases and memories, like flashbacks in a show. A few spots that reminded us, unnecessarily, of character traits that had been long since established and really required no further reminders.
These things don't break the book though--just bring it down from what could have been high marks to a satisfactory passing grade instead. The stories are still very good, and you will still get attached to the characters, and for someone who enjoys a character driven story, that's all I need.
"Cascade Failure" is a fairly quick but fun read that is reminiscent of many a space pirate or space cowboy story, but updated with some new elements and sensibilities. The story is generally pretty fast-paced and action-packed that occasionally pauses to give the reader a look into the thought processes of the characters as events happen. Some may find this jarring or boring, but as a person who has tried to read through "Dune" multiple times - and failed, primarily due to Herbert's exhausting method of trying to accomplish this same feat - I did not find these interruptions disruptive. In fact, I believe they are necessary to really show all the emotions that are in play as this "found family" comes together and grows into the family that they all need (but will never admit to themselves).
This has all the trimmings of a good old-fashioned space western but …
"Cascade Failure" is a fairly quick but fun read that is reminiscent of many a space pirate or space cowboy story, but updated with some new elements and sensibilities. The story is generally pretty fast-paced and action-packed that occasionally pauses to give the reader a look into the thought processes of the characters as events happen. Some may find this jarring or boring, but as a person who has tried to read through "Dune" multiple times - and failed, primarily due to Herbert's exhausting method of trying to accomplish this same feat - I did not find these interruptions disruptive. In fact, I believe they are necessary to really show all the emotions that are in play as this "found family" comes together and grows into the family that they all need (but will never admit to themselves).
This has all the trimmings of a good old-fashioned space western but without all the hard sci-fi and verbosity getting in the way of the world-building. It's fun and the characters are easy to identify with without becoming tropes or stereotypes. If you're a fan of the "Firefly" franchise, or you enjoy the works of the likes of Martha Welles or Becky Chambers, I think you'll really enjoy this book. I know I did!
This novel is a fun action-adventure romp involving starships and a number of colorful characters. It is not a elaborate story with sophisticated story that explores complex themes of political or philosophical nature. Sometimes you want a fun action-adventure romp, though, and this book mostly delivers in that area. There's dramatic chases, creepy abandoned facilities, fighting, narrow rescues, cleverly competent problem solving, and other such things.
One complaint is that at times the writing can be a bit too verbose, throwing the pacing off. L. M. Sagas has a habit of writing paragraphs detailing characters' mental state at emotionally fraught moments, but often, instead of conveying the intensity of the character's feelings, it just feels redundant. One could also get into nitpicks about how some of the side characters are a bit flat, or how the plot, devoid of any large gaping holes, nevertheless sometimes takes some liberties for convenience. …
This novel is a fun action-adventure romp involving starships and a number of colorful characters. It is not a elaborate story with sophisticated story that explores complex themes of political or philosophical nature. Sometimes you want a fun action-adventure romp, though, and this book mostly delivers in that area. There's dramatic chases, creepy abandoned facilities, fighting, narrow rescues, cleverly competent problem solving, and other such things.
One complaint is that at times the writing can be a bit too verbose, throwing the pacing off. L. M. Sagas has a habit of writing paragraphs detailing characters' mental state at emotionally fraught moments, but often, instead of conveying the intensity of the character's feelings, it just feels redundant. One could also get into nitpicks about how some of the side characters are a bit flat, or how the plot, devoid of any large gaping holes, nevertheless sometimes takes some liberties for convenience. But, if the book is to be an action-adventure romp, then those additional complaints aren't as big of a deal.
Cascade Failure is an action-packed scifi novel about a ragtag spaceship crew of misfits that gets involved in Significant Events. It's snappy and engaging, but it's not heavy on horizon-expanding content - it feels a bit like a space-opera version of a Tales of the Ketty Jay novel
LM Sagas's Cascade Failure is a debut sf novel about found family on a scrappy spaceship working against the evils of capitalism. You love to see it. I don't know why this trope is such catnip for me, but I could really read so much of this.
It's full of snappy dialogue, fun relationships, and action-filled set pieces. Honestly, so much of the book felt visual that I could easily imagine a comic or film adaptation. The relationships between the characters, especially Jal and Saint, had a lot of depth.
I wish there was a little bit more heft to the worldbuilding. It's a space corporations vs unions situation (although it gets at some good nuance about how these can work too closely together), with a guild that sits sort of outside that. I didn't really get much sense of what guild hierarchy Captain Eoan existed in, as it seemed …
LM Sagas's Cascade Failure is a debut sf novel about found family on a scrappy spaceship working against the evils of capitalism. You love to see it. I don't know why this trope is such catnip for me, but I could really read so much of this.
It's full of snappy dialogue, fun relationships, and action-filled set pieces. Honestly, so much of the book felt visual that I could easily imagine a comic or film adaptation. The relationships between the characters, especially Jal and Saint, had a lot of depth.
I wish there was a little bit more heft to the worldbuilding. It's a space corporations vs unions situation (although it gets at some good nuance about how these can work too closely together), with a guild that sits sort of outside that. I didn't really get much sense of what guild hierarchy Captain Eoan existed in, as it seemed like they and the crew largely went off and did whatever they pleased.
Overall, my take is that this was fun but not amazing, and I'd read more by this author or in this universe for sure.
At first, I thought this would be a beach read, not anything heavy or anything, just a good ol' space adventure. I made it about 90% through but gave up. Everyone from the characters to the narrators loves their 20th century idioms. It seems unlikely that either hundreds of years in the future that those idioms will survive. And there is a lot of telling instead of showing. You could probably chop fifty pages of exposition and it wouldn't affect the story line.
The blurb on the book cover mentioned that this is like a Becky Chambers' novel. Well, if you mean there are spaceships, then yes. Is it anything else like a Chambers' novel? no.
On the plus side, the characters are interesting, and the plot is ok. Two stars, it might work for you, but it didn't do anything for me.
I'm not even sure where to start with this one. The book focuses on the crew of the Ambit, a ship that's part of a peace-keeping organization.
Each member is a delight to read about, and the author switches perspectives to get a sampling of the characters' internal thoughts and motivations. Each one has feelings and beliefs and a history that makes them feel like real people. Some of the personality quirks feel a little cliche if you think about it too hard, but it didn't detract for me from how much I cared for them by the end of the book.
The author did a fantastic job pulling my emotions this way and that while the crew traveled the galaxy. I strongly recommend giving this one a read.
It kind of feels like a couple of authors in recent years have taken up the challenge of John Steakley’s amazing book Armor, and L M Sagas definitely joins them. A fierce, tight-knit crew comprised of an AI spaceship, a retired soldier and a fixit girl (both ships and humans) accidentally (or maybe not so) take on a new passenger and promptly stumble into a whole bunch of crazy intertwined mysteries while dealing with old wounds.
A great read with fun characters. Well worth the time if you like a good action story with fun heroes.
