Thank you so much to Titan Books for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Goodreads synopsis
Nia Imani is a woman out of place and outside of time. Decades of travel through the stars are condensed into mere months for her, though the years continue to march steadily onward for everyone she has ever known. The captain of a transport ship contracted to the Umbrai corporation, she lives only for the next paycheck, until the day she meets a mysterious boy, fallen from the sky.
A boy, broken by his past, and hunted by his present. For he is one of the few born with the gift of the Jaunt. The ability to travel instantly anywhere in the universe. An ability that threatens the vicelike control of the settled worlds by corporations such as Umbrai. Fumiko Nakajima, the great scientist responsible for the design of bird-like Stations that Umbrai uses to control vast tracts of space, has been searching for one such as he for a thousand years.
Together, they set out to protect the boy, a journey that will cross the decades and light years all the way out to the fringes of settled space where the laws of civilisation do not apply, and they will have only each other to rely on.
Review
Oh my god, the journey this book takes you on!! I couldn't help but found myself completely captivated by these characters and the amount of detail that went into this book. I still can't get over the fact that this is a debut novel as Jimenez's writing is magical and gripping. I found myself on the edge of my seat, having no idea what was going to happen next!
I really liked the characters in this book, especially Nia, Ahro and the rest of the crew among the Debby. I found that the first few chapters were such an interesting way of introducing our main characters, going back in time to explain their past in more detail and how they ended up where they are now before this mission to protect Ahro.
I found the world that Jimenez has created so interesting, especially with the idea of travelling in pockets of time and how much time actually passes outside of this. I also liked the differences between all the worlds from high-tech and built up cities to an abandoned planet that has one man living there with a massive amount of dogs.
However, I did find that I struggled with the last third of the book. The story dramatically picked up and before I knew it things had dramatically changed with no real indication of it happening previously in the book. I also found some parts hard to comprehend, Fumiko's storyline mainly. I had to read her sections a couple of times just to try and grasp what was happening.
Overall, this was a great debut novel and I loved delving into this world that Jimenez has created. I cannot wait to see what he writes next!
Rating: 4/5 stars