Space Opera Fans discussion

Greetings Space Opera Fans!

Party Nancy Drew, part Elysium, April by Mackey Chandler is a political mystery set in space.

[*Note: got a newer cover for this, but couldn't pull it up in the main page*]



April is an exceptional young lady and something of a snoop. After a chance encounter with a spy, she finds herself involved with political intrigues that stretch her abilities. There is a terrible danger she, and her friends and family, will lose the only home she has ever known, and be forced to live on the slum ball Earth below. It's more than an almost fourteen year old should have to deal with. Fortunately she has a lot of smart friends and allies. It's a good things because things get very rough and dicey. They challenge the political status quo, and with a small population the only advantage they have in war is a thin technological edge.

ARE YOU READING APRIL? Shout it out in the discussion thread below, find a book buddy, and discuss what you think as you read along with the community. Just be kind please and use the spoiler .html so you don't ruin the fun for somebody who's not so far along.

Be epic!

Anna Erishkigal
SOF Borg Queen

Rereading April in April - love it!

For me this would/will be a first read. I've downloaded the sample and I'll take a gander.

I'm in for this one...will probably get to it mid month.

I'm enjoying my reread of April. The first time I tried to read it I gave up in chapter two because the POV character was nasty. The second time I had more patience and fell in love with April who appears in chapter three. This is my third full reading.

I'm trying to avoid spoilers. The book's flavor reminds me of Heinlein juveniles, Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and a dash of L. Neil Smith. The strong libertarianism works because it is a small community and anybody who can't get along or pull his own weight is usually deported. I don't see this working if they had to maintain prisons, care for the disabled, etc.

I like the fact that the three main characters have different strengths and different approaches to solving problems, and most particularly that two of them are female.

I'd better stop now or I'll end up sharing spoilers.....

Ill get to this after I finish Pandora's Star.

This was pretty enjoyable. Some editing weirdness but the setting and characters def. hooked me enough to give more of these books a looksee.

On this reread I have noticed the need for a good copy editor. The misspellings are all valid words, and it's not too hard to figure out what was meant. I'm most of the way done rereading the entire series. Not sure whether I'll reread Families lay Law series after that or go to something new. Family Law is in the same universe but more than 100 years later.

Started the book yesterday. Yes I can see the similarities between April and Heinlein's juvenile works like "The Rolling Stones", or "Tunnel in the Sky". I wonder if the strong libertarian sentiment and suspicion of government is an extension of Mr Chandler's personal politics. Rebellion against overbearing and authoritarian governments seem to be much in vogue in SciFi these days.

So I'm going to count this as read even though I only made through 31% of it. The author gets bogged down in details that have absolutely nothing to do with the story. A detailed explanation of the preparation of a meal does nothing to advance the story line. I also didn't find the characters particularly believable and didn't have a strong sense of the issues and emotions that were driving them. The central premise seems to be that the main characters are preparing for an armed insurrection based on the belief that the overbearing government of Earth may try to strip their families of their rights to a mineral rich asteroid that they captured and brought into orbit around the Earth. I'm sure it was the author's intent to to portray them as freedom fighters preparing to stand up to a stifling and increasingly authoritarian government, but an alternative explanation is that they are insurgents attempting to set up a terrorist cell. It's all a matter of perception I suppose. I'm sure some will enjoy this book but it just isn't my cup of tea.

Perhaps I'm just your stereotypical law abiding Canadian who respects law and order but the authoritarian government of Earth and the characters who represented it seemed almost cliche and not believable. Anyway...on to the the next book.

Ill admit I skipped over some parts but from the looks of things in later books he gets a better editor to keep him on track a bit. Or maybe I am used to off the wall tangents. IE Weber....esp his later books.

Most of the time if a setting is interesting enough to me Ill keep reading.

For anyone interested in reading this book who doesn’t have it yet, it is currently on sale on Amazon for 99 cents. Well, the US Amazon store anyway. The author said in his blog that it will be that price for one week only, starting today.