Aether Ones

Leilani Falconi is a top agent for the Imperial Investigative Service, tasked with policing the veil between two realities. Long ago, the Great Sundering tore the universe into two mirrored halves; aether space, which progressed using magical energy or eldrich, and kuldain, which advanced via electromagnetic technology.

But now a series of suspicious deaths stretching back more than a decade has the agent trapped directly between secretive bureaucracies and their peoples. If she can't solve the mysterious crimes in time, existence as she knows it could erupt into chaos.

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Perfect for readers who want:

• Badass women in science fiction, kicking ass and … well, you can’t take the names of the dead I guess, so … *shrug*
• Including even a young female engineer who shows up all the men!
• A world filled with a variety of really interesting races.
• Plenty of action, fight scenes, and problems to solve.
• Political intrigue, upheaval, and tensions.
• Interesting magic and tech.

Many thanks to Brown Books Publishing and TheWriteReads for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I’m going to preface this by saying that I’m not a huge fan of sci-fi. I tend to be super picky about it, so when I heard about this book, I confess that I paused for just a second, because this is the type of sci-fi I tend not to enjoy. You know what, though? Yay for escaping one’s comfort zone, because I ended up having fun with this book! I’m so glad I took the chance and picked it up.

Aether Ones is a science fiction mystery with political upheaval and dangerous secrets. It’s got a kick-butt female lead and lots of really neat alien races forced to work together.

This is one of those times I wish I did half-stars, because I couldn’t quite decide between three stars and four stars. What even are ratings anyway? Pfft. Ultimately, I went with three stars, because the world-building wasn’t quite there and I ended up confused a lot and re-reading sections. That being said, I did really enjoy this, and with the way it ends, I really hope there’ll be a sequel!

Whoever says women can’t be strong military figures has clearly never met Leilani Falconi.

As a protagonist, Lei is a heck of a lot of fun. She’s a no-holds-barred spy who’s really good at what she does … which is really whatever the mission calls for. I’m always a sucker for strong female leads, and Leilani fits the bill wonderfully. That’s not to say she’s without her weaknesses, but it’s clear that she’s good at what she does and isn’t going to stop doing it just because someone thinks she should or it’s “illegal.” Pffft. Rules are really just suggestions anyway.

Even though I felt like I didn’t get to know the secondary characters well, I still easily fell in love with General Rothar Horrison and his dynamic with Lei.

I would’ve loved more of his story, because he ended up in stasis for centuries and woke to a world that was largely different—and partly the same—from the one he’d lived in. How interesting is that?!

General Horrison provides some needed balance to Lei, but in a way that complements her rather than slows her down or seeks to smother her. He’s a military man through and through, even after all these years, so he’s balance and structure to her chaos and randomness. He’s more rigid while she’s more flexible. I really enjoyed how their partnership played out, and I’d love to see more of them!

I really enjoyed seeing all the different races and aliens that exist in this world.

It’s easy to see this as a futuristic thing. The author does a good job of blending reality and science fiction in a way that feels entirely possible. Instead of the Big Bang, this world had the Great Sundering, after they discovered that the world was really ripped into kuldain space and aether space. Aether space is obviously where it’s at, because that’s where all the interesting things exist, but the “real” world is more akin to kuldain space.

My favorite species, by far, is this little race that’s considered a pest in aether space but which is absolutely adorable and clearly an asset on the team.

People with arachnophobia may be less inclined to agree, since it’s a mix of spider and humanoid, with four spidery legs, a humanoid upper torso, four upper arms, and eight eyes. But honestly, doesn’t that sound rather charming? This was my favorite side character because even though we never really knew what it was saying aside from the way Lei responded to it, its personality and attitude was perfectly clear!

This book is chock full of sarcastic characters and antiheroes. So, you know, my people.

If this is your thing, yes, these characters will likely be for you. They’re technically “government,” but an unsanctioned branch that would be more like the Men in Black. You know, acting in secret to save everyone from the worst scum of the universe. So military rigidity and order need not technically apply, since it’s basically staffed by criminals.

I had a lot of fun with the way these characters interacted and the tongue-in-cheek humor that’s used. There’s a sort of grudging respect between them that comes from interacting with each other in dangerous situations regularly, but also a familiarity that comes from … well, the same thing. It makes for a really fun (and oftentimes funny) dynamic.

There were moments I ended up confused and had to re-read sections, and I think that was due to a couple things.

First, right off the bat, I’m going to say part of it was me. One reason I struggle with sci-fi is because they tend to have large casts, and I tend to have trouble keeping tracking of large casts. Not exactly a great combination there. This book has a lot of characters, and when you compare that with all the different alien races, I sometimes forgot who or what characters were. This was sometimes exacerbated by the fact that first names and surnames were used interchangeably, like Rothar Horrison was sometimes Rothar and sometimes Horrison, often in the same chapter, pages apart, and I wasn’t sure why. It took me a while to realize because I didn’t think they were two separate people, so I figured it was first name/last name, but I wasn’t sure why it flip-flopped back and forth between the use of each.

Second, the plot was really fast-paced, which was sometimes a good thing and sometimes not. I felt like it often jumped from one thing to another, and I wasn’t always sure where this new struggle fit in with the rest. In the end, everything tied up nicely, but there were moments where I wasn’t sure where Lei was or where the new conflict felt episodic rather than tying into the whole.

What I really wanted, though, was more in-depth world-building, since there was a lot to grapple with all at once, and I never felt like I had a firm grasp of it.

There were a lot of different race names and creatures, and I had trouble keeping them straight. Throw that in with a story that was a little choppy and jumped from place to place, and I sometimes found myself completely lost as to where Lei was at any given moment or what her goal was. I think the story would’ve benefitted from a little more smoothing out and piecing together to ground the reader a bit more.

About Wendi Coffman-Porter

Wendi Coffman-Porter grew up an only child in a military family. She spent a lot of time as a child inventing new friends and sharing them with others. She began writing her stories down at the age of ten and by the time her first child was born she'd written her first novel. Her passion has always been the colourful canvas and creative freedom of fantasy and sci-fi. Be it roleplaying or writing in her office at home in Texas, with her pack of furry friends, she is always developing something new and colourful to share with others. Her fervour for incredibly rich realities that are as authentic as the ones outside your own window, is what drives her to constantly find out what's happening around the next corner. Enabling her to reach a deep new understanding of the nature of life, no matter what form that life might take.

Website

Other Reviews:

• Chasing Destino
• Lili’s Blissful Pages
• All Characters Wanted