Ocean's Echo

I was ecstatic to receive an eARC of one of my most anticipated releases. Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher! I adored Winter’s Orbit and have reread it multiple times this year alone, so it was obvious that I was going to read more from the author. I am really happy about the opportunity to read this book early. The story is about Tennal and Surit, two very different neurologically enhanced people who find themselves conspiring against the military. Tennal is an unwilling conscript with a criminal past who can read minds and refuses to follow the orders sync himself for life to a powerful architect, a person who can control minds. Surit, the architect in question, is desperate to prove himself in the military after his mother died in disgrace but he also refuses to carry out the illegal orders to sync Tennal against his will. Unfortunately, both of them are caught in a web of military conspiracies that proves impossible to escape unless they work together. The author’s newest space adventure left me delighted with all its secrets and power struggles and two protagonists who are forced to trust each other. The humor of the writing style helps lighten the high stakes and works wonderful, while the suspense is consistently rising in the background. When I got to the second half of the book, I constantly had to remind myself to take breaks for eating and sleeping. I immediately took a liking to both protagonists. Tennal is an agent of chaos whose life has spiraled so far out of control that he doesn’t show fear of consequences anymore. He is driven by this fear, though, and keeps searching for an escape from his old and current life. Surit seems to be his opposite with his perfect grades and military track record and unbendable moral compass. Following the rules is his trademark, while Tennal prefers to break them. Both of them quickly create an intriguing dynamic with each other that was so fun to see unfold! Their character developments are fantastic. The plot focuses on the military and its past and present dubious decisions. There are more than two sides, though, and every player has their own motives. It got to a point where it was confusing to keep track of everything and how it’s connected, but that is most likely on purpose, considering how the characters themselves struggle to find the right way over the metaphorical chess board. It also increased my involvement with the story and none of the political maneuvers were left unexplained, so I was able to keep up. At the beginning, I feared that I would constantly compare this book with Winter’s Orbit. This fear was quickly set aside, however, because Ocean’s Echo is entirely its own story. There are similar aspects, for example two protagonists who are bound to each other against their will and suddenly find themselves in the midst of a great conspiracy they can only untangle if they trust one other, or a similar slightly self-depreciating humor. Meaning that anyone who liked the first book of the author is probably also going to like this one. The way Ocean’s Echo focuses less on the romance and more on the overarching plot actually makes it feel a bit more balanced than Winter’s Orbit. But that was it with my comparisons! They are both great books I enjoyed immensely and while reading, I stopped thinking of Winter’s Orbit altogether. In conclusion, I found a new favorite book in this one. The worldbuilding with its intricate society built on its military past, the action-laden gripping plot, two characters I couldn’t not love and a generally open attitude towards queerness - those are all the reasons I loved this story. I had to read it within two days because I literally could not bring myself to stop reading. I highly recommend it!

"Society isn't something you can just snap your fingers and change." Maxwell's zweites Buch spielt im selben Universum wie Winter's Orbit, hier herrschen jedoch ganz andere politische Situationen. Diese erscheinen zuerst sehr kompliziert, werden über das Buch hinweg detailliert beschrieben und zum Ende hin hatte ich das Gefühl es verstanden zu haben. Es gibt vor allem eine klare Trennung zwischen der Armee und der Bevölkerung, wobei die Grenzen der Macht oft verschwimmen. Die Autorin schreibt sehr einprägend wie übergriffig die Armee vorgeht bzw. die Person, die dahinter steht. Das Ganze soll so vielen Soldat:innen wie möglich den freien Willen rauben und genau damit wird das 'Ober' - Thema mit den Protagonisten verbunden. Tennal ist ein privilegierter Bürger und sog. Reader (kann Gedanken lesen & nicht nur oberflächlich, ungefragt ist die Ausführung verboten), seine Tante ist die gewählte regierende Person der Bevölkerung. Trotz all dieser Privilegien ist er nicht zufrieden und seine Tante steckt ihn zur Kontrolle in die Armee. Dort trifft Tennal auf Surit, er ist ein sog. architect (kann Handlungen von anderen kontrollieren). Anfangs ist nicht klar, warum die Protagonisten zusammen arbeiten sollen, die beiden könnten unterschiedlicher nicht sein. Tennal will keinen Befehlen gehorchen und denkt nur an sich, Surit dagegen ist ein guter Soldat und fühlt eine starke Verantwortung seinen Eltern gegenüber. Recht schnell bemerken beide, dass sie einander brauchen um ihr Ziel zu erreichen - wobei Maxwell's Story unvorhersehbar bleibt. Das Streben nach einem freien Willen, der Wahrheit ist die treibende Kraft und führt am Ende zum großen Aufstand. Besonders gut fand ich, wie die Autorin die Fähigkeiten der reader und architects darstellt (eine Art Vergleich mit dem Meer oder dem unendlichen Universum). Und wie schon in Winter's Orbit ist Geschlechter Identität unglaublich interessant und fortschrittlich umgesetzt.

Oh. My. God. I read this book right after I finished "Winter's Orbit" and fuck ... that was intense! I actually liked this book even better than "the first installment". Surit and Tennal are such fascinating characters and the whole theme with the Architects and Readers was and is so exciting. I loved the black - grey - white and the dance between legal and illegal. Although everything was probably more illegal. Yes, the romance level was very low, but for me personally it didn't need more. Romance is more than kitsch and love confessions and sex and stuff. Here was ... Chemistry ... Character development ... Depending on each other; being connected. Trust and betrayal. Fear and terror, friendship. So much ... So many emotions and relationships. I thought it was so cool that there was more focus on the Remnants and gosh .... On their origins. Dude ... i am SO IN LOVE!