At the beginning of the year, I made a resolution to pick up with series I’d thoroughly enjoyed, and yet somehow lost track of. Otherwise, I’d continue endlessly continue to be led off to the new shiny and not allow myself to follow a character’s development over a well-told narrative arc. And as I’m a particular fan of character-led stories, this wasn’t the smartest way to get the best of out my reading experience. So I got back in touch with one of my favourite, groundbreaking, adrenaline-junkie heroines – Sirantha Jax – see my reviews of Grimspace and Killbox.
BLURB: Sirantha Jax has the right genes—ones that enable her to “jump” faster-than-light ships through grimspace. But it’s also in her genetic makeup to go it alone. It’s a character trait that has gotten her into—and out of—hot water time and time again, but now she’s caused one of the most horrific events in military history… During the war against murderous, flesh-eating aliens, Sirantha went AWOL and shifted grimspace beacons to keep the enemy from invading humanity’s homeworld. The cost of her actions: the destruction of modern interstellar travel—and the lives of six hundred Conglomerate soldiers.
Accused of dereliction of duty, desertion, mass murder, and high treason, Sirantha is on trial for her life. And only time will tell if she’s one of the Conglomerate’s greatest heroes—or most infamous criminals…
REVIEW: I am so glad that I picked up with this series, again! I recalled the last book and the desperate strategy that Jax uses to prevent the terrible, flesh-eating Morgut aliens from invading the whole of human-space. And so this one starts with Jax in a lot of trouble, and at a very low point in her life. Whatever you do – in the event of encountering this book without having read at least Killbox – put it down and backtrack. I make a hobby of crashing midway into series, and it won’t work with this one. You will simply have missed too much of Jax’s amazing journey to fully appreciate who she is and where she’s come from.
I found this book immensely moving. Sirantha Jax was a real hell-raiser in the earlier books and has been through all sorts of life-changing experiences. I’m delighted to see that they have, indeed, changed her, which isn’t always the case with our kick-ass heroines. I was on tenterhooks throughout her trial – as I know only too well Aguirre isn’t necessarily kind to our gutsy protagonist. And then the resultant adventure that she’s embroiled in also originates by her trying to put right a wrong that she inflicted earlier. I’m conscious that I’ve managed to make this sound as if it’s a rather dreary read – it isn’t. There is plenty of danger and action. But I love the relationship between her and Vel, her Ithtorian companion (think of a large, upright cockroach) as it goes on deepening and they appreciate each other as firm friends. Friendship isn’t always fully explored in space opera – but this one is beautifully portrayed.
I came away with a real sense of loss on leaving this world. With the current upsurge of popularity in space opera adventure, I hope readers will consider picking up this fabulous series. Highly recommended for fans of character-led, high-octane space opera.
9/10
Brainfluff 
It’s been quite a long time since I read this series, so details have become a little hazy (well, more than a little…) but what I can clearly remember is that I enjoyed these books very much and liked both Sirantha as a character and the world she moved in.
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Thank you, Maddalena. I started this series far too long ago – and then somehow didn’t complete it… I think I couldn’t get hold of the print books, at the time. But yes – I’m delighted to discover that the magic hasn’t faded:)).
I’d love to start this series, in fact I have never read any of Aguirre’s books so maybe this series is a good place to start😁
It’s a cracking, action-packed space opera adventure with a strong, feisty character. I love the overarching narrative arc, too – so I can recommend it:)).
And another series that sounds good but which I’m too far behind already! Good to see you enjoying this so much. I have read one book by this author and I enjoyed it very much but it wasn’t this series.
Lynn 😀
Thank you, Lynn:). The first book in this series was published back at the beginning of 2008 and I remember being blown away by the punchy rawness of the heroine. I think Aguirre was something of a trail-blazer, as nowadays such female protagonists are par for the course – but they weren’t nearly so common then. And certainly not so wilful or headstrong. It’s lovely to revisit this series and discover the magic lives on…