Obsolete Your Idols

I don’t really know who Emily Devenport is.  Because of the way I came by one of her books, I suspect she’s a member of Broad Universe.  At a Wiscon a few years ago, I wandered past the Broad Universe table and one of the book covers caught my eye.  It’s got a dark skinned woman in what looks a bit like Star Wars Stormtrooper armor kneedeep in a pitted dessert landscape while behind her a looming egg shape contains (reflects?) a bright and complicated landscape, possibly a distorted version of the one she stands in.  It’s called EggHeads.

It’s the story of a lucky woman who takes chances to improve her lot and ends up potentially altering the course of human history.  I gather it’s the start of a series and not the only work by Emily Devenport so if it turns out to be the kind of thing you like, there’s more of it available.  I’ll be seeking out more of her stuff, myself.

What I liked

• The structure of the story.  It’s in three major sections, each titled and each well-divided from the others
• The protagonist.  She’s fierce and lucky, two of my favorite qualities.
• The reveals in this story, where things we are told make no sense until later in the story

What I didn’t like

• The protagonist forgiving her asshole boyfriend.  Repeatedly.
• The ending was a little too pat for my tastes but perhaps later works in this setting undo the happily ever after.

Overall it’s a strong far future science fiction story once you get past the crutch of near-light travel.  It’s got a likable protagonist facing tough odds and beating at least some of those odds.

Who might like this book

• People who like sf by women about women

Who might not like this book

• People who don’t like sf by women
• Or about women

Tags: novel, Review, sf

This entry was posted on Friday, August 21st, 2009 at 7:43 am and is filed under Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.