Friday Reads: Earth Flight by Janet Edwards!!!

Hello guys!! Happy Friday!!

I'm working today and the weekend BUT on Monday I'm starting my vacation, so I'm not gonna complain, nuh huh!

Starting this week's Friday Reads is another of those awaited final books in a series and since I've been doing so poorly at it, I'm gonna be counting it for my 2014 Series Challenge, even if I don't remember if I put it there on my original list!

Earth Flight by Janet  Edwards

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I had been postponing reading Earth Flight cause we sometimes do that with final books in series we love, cause we fear the conclusion won't be good enough or we don't want to say goodbye to the characters.

And although I feel sad saying goodbye to these characters and would love to read more stories about them and what's to come, I can also say that this was a satisfactory book and a great way to end this trilogy.

One of the things I've loved the most about this trilogy is how much fun to read the books are when at the same time they raise these poignant and necessary questions about humanity. The main question raised here is one about discrimination and segregation, and goes to show us people in the now that it seems that we don't learn our lessons and people in the future will continue to discriminate other human beings for any reason whatsoever like in this case, their immune system.

Jarra has been working so hard to prove herself to the "norms" and then after realizing she was prejudiced herself, she's simply fought so hard to be treated equally and to do what she loves, even if she can't ever leave Earth. She has to fight for her relationship, the position she earned in the military and the right to finally join her birth family and in this book that's the main point of focus, how prejudice works, how encroached some beliefs are into society that we won't see beyond a word and would do anything to hold onto those beliefs even if they're wrong.

A lot of stereotypes and prejudices are shattered in this book and by doing so we are forced to take a look at those prejudices and stereotypes that surround us and see how easily we judge without thinking.

I loved that Jarra and Fian had a strong relationship and that even if they had their quarrels whenever they were thrown a curve ball they worked together to face it and defeat it. And I really loved that Jarra continued to find people in her corner even if it was fighting for something that at first seemed to have more opposition than support.

We get some new characters that I grew to love and we also get a resolution to the alien mystery introduced to us in Earth Star and although I was a teensy bit disappointed on how that plot line was resolved (I guess I was expecting something more Contact like, I dunno...) I was glad how it also served to show how unprepared the human race can be to meet other kind of intelligent life if we can't see to understand and accept all of us humans as equals.

A book that was a fun and quick read but with a deep message, quite an unlikely combination that worked so very well for me! Science fiction at its core, using the future to make us think of the issues of today! A very well deserved 4.5 stars for this final book!



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Friday Reads: Earth Star by Janet Edwards!

Seems that all my Friday Reads so far are the second book in either a series or a trilogy! Luckily this one also did a good job on following up a great first book!


Earth Star by Janet  Edwards

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Earth Star is the sequel to Earth Girl and it starts right where Earth Girl left us: Jarra has received the Earth Star & the Artemis medals from the military, everyone knows she's a Handicapped (or an "ape" to use the pejorative term) and she has to face her classmates after lying to them. She's got Fian supporting her even without the approval of his family and she's got her love for History and archeology.

Once they're trying to get back to the routine of classes after moving to a different site dig called Eden in Africa, for Jarra with some unpleasant surprises in the shape of bullying from some of her classmates, there are some news that throw everything they think they know for a loop! Jarra and Fian are called up by the military under the utmost secrecy to be part of the Alien Contact program that has been activated.

What does that mean? Well, it's a military protocol established for the moment when humanity in their reach for the stars happen onto intelligent & civilized alien life... except that they haven't found it out there... alien civilization has come to Earth in the shape of an unmanned sphere!

This is at the same time thrilling and scary and Jarra once again finds herself in the thick of it! She's even made part of the military along with Fian and she finds herself providing key information and getting thrown into a command position in the madness of it all.

Jarra is still adjusting to being ok with who she is and appreciating the fact that she's good at what she does and that her being an "ape" still doesn't give others the right to judge her. She's gone from being angry at the world to not wanting to make a fuss about other people's disrespect and clear hatred of her just for having a different immune system.

Earth Star continues to show us how close minded humans can be and how easily we make divisions between the "us" and the "others" for the silliest of reasons. If you find it difficult to believe the fact that a deficient immune system would turn those humans into pariahs and having so many other consider them subhumans, just look back and look now and see how there are still people that think a different skin tone makes someone less than them. Now, take this one stage further and think, if we can do that to fellow humans with a difference, what would we not to do really different beings, like aliens?

I love how this book manages to present us with some serious issues and questions and at the same time add some realistic and well needed levity, like having your prudish Deltan lecturer be a rock'n'roll drum player!

Jarra is doing so much growing up in this book, on dealing with who she is, finding out more about her family, her relationship with Fian... She is still learning to trust Fian and to not expect him to run when things get complicated, and she's quite lucky to have such a stubborn and loyal guy that won't let her throw away their relationship for fear of making things difficult for him. Fian also has to deal with some issues himself, but he's an all around solid character.

The plot progresses without major twists but instead keeps on building up the the climax of a cliffhanger ending and leaves us hanging till the next book is released!

Earth Star doesn't suffer from the middle book syndrome, instead it gives the overall plot of the series a new twist and rises the stakes up a notch! Very well deserved 4 stars!



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