Ann Aguirre – Oh WOW!

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As well as reading the likes of David Weber, Lois McMaster-Bujold, Anne McCaffrey, Alan Dean Foster, Elizabeth Moon, Andre Norton, John Christopher, Ben Bova, Robert Silverberg, Roger Zelazney, Tanya Huff, Rob Thurman, Jan Clarke, Tara K. Harper and Mike Shepherd, I also read romance and this has led me to discovering a number of other authors I really like, Nalini Singh among them.
Recently, however, I read a novel called Grimspace. When I bought it, I thought it was a science fiction romance, one of the genres Writing Head #2 is writing. As there’s not a lot out there, I thought I’d read a little of what was.
I would not call Grimspace romance.
It has romantic elements and a very short (not too explicit) sex scene, but it is primarily one of the best science fiction action adventures I have ever read – and I’ve read a lot. Grimspace is definitely up there with works I’ve read by mainstream authors, and Sirantha Jax as memorable and tough a character as Alan Dean Foster’s Flinx, Mike Shepherd’s Kris Longknife, Lois McMaster Bujold’s Miles Vorkosigan and Elizabeth Moon’s Ky Vatta.
The story is one of action, but touches on interplanetary politics and corporate power as well as being about redemption, human failure, human success, friendship, loyalty, betrayal and motive. I even thought I caught tributes to David Twohy’s Pitch Black (all-devouring flying swarms) and Joss Whedon’s Firefly (‘we’re going for a ride’), but the swarm creatures are almost invisible and share a living colonised world, and the ‘ride’ is mentioned by the pilot as he evacuates a dying ship.
I love the concepts of the Slider and the Morgut, which play to my love of space bugs and shifters. And I like the ‘jumpers’ concept as another take on space travel and an alternative to hyperdrive. I love the way the story touches on genetics, and I love the world- and species- building I see. Most memorable, apart from the Slider, of course, is the exploration of the frog people of Marakeq, and the description of their lifecycle and planet.
The story ends in a burst of action and powerful political upheaval that left me closing the book and thinking ‘oh wow’ while trying to timetable in when I can make the trip to the romance bookstore and buy the rest of the books in the series. If the rest are anywhere near this, I’ll be a happy reader.
In the meantime, I’ve found her website: http://www.annaguirre.com/ and it has a booklist. I’m in so much trouble :-)
Location: Canberra ACT 2601, Australia

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