Grimspace: Ann Aguirre

Only certain individuals are born with the J-gene; the rare and prized gift that allows them to accelerate themselves and navigate their ships through Grimspace. The voyage through Grimspace is a rush unlike any other and for many jumpers death finds them all too often as they're jacked-in. Even this eventual ending however, isn't enough to quell the growing ranks of the Corp jumpers

For Sirantha Jax the rush of jumping through space has long outweighed the knowledge that one day her skill will burn itself out. As the most successful jumper in the Corp Jax ignores the threats to her own mortality until the last fateful jump with her beloved pilot that leaves the entire crew dead. Only Jax survives, imprisoned by the Corp in a psychiatric hospital with no memory of the crash that killed her mates. When Jax's cell is stormed by March, a ship's captain and a pilot with an agenda of his own Jax is offered her freedom but with a price. Now Jax will have to trust a rogue crew and a new pilot to learn the truth behind what really happened.

The idea of Grimspace is a new one and I found it highly intriguing. The idea of jumper and pilot relying on each other so intimately, being so connected, was also quite excellent. It leads to a certain tension between the two that I thought was well-played. The characters are well-drawn and easy to like and relate to. My concerns with the story arise with certain similarities I see to Firefly/Serenity; between the jailbreak, amnesia concerning what really happened, how deeply is the government involved, bounty hunters. Don't misunderstand me though; I did like this book and I believe it has promise as a series (I saw a mention of a second book today). I simply think it needs to find its own footing.
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Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Pub. Date: February 2008
ISBN-13: 9780441015993