Let me just start by saying that it has been an absolute honor to beta read for and work with this wonderful lady over the past couple of years. This sprawling saga she has created has become one of my favorite stories!
When I finished Transcendence, I was satisfied. I knew the story wasn’t over – there were plenty of hints that there was much more to come – but the Aurora Rising trilogy had been wrapped up nicely. There was something else coming, but I had no idea what it was.
Then I started reading Sidespace. At first I was thinking, “Whoa, I totally wasn’t expecting this!” but after a while that thought transformed into “Well obviously this was bound to happen!” Things happened that I would never have imagined while reading Starshine and Vertigo (and even Transcendence) but once the concepts are introduced, you realize everything has been flowing inevitably toward them the entire time.
Sidespace is the Starshine of the Aurora Renegades trilogy. That’s not to say it IS Starshine; in discussing the book with Ms. Jennsen earlier this fall, she mentioned never wanting to be accused of just repeating the same story, and that’s certainly not the case here. Sidespace is like Starshine in that it’s clearly an introduction to this second act inAurora Rhapsody. Yes, it’s a continuation of the story we’ve been reading, but there’s so much new material and you just KNOW it’s going to end up having a huge impact on both the plot and the characters. It’s by far the most unique book of the whole series so far. The plot switches back and forth between the post-war turmoil and political intrigue within Aurora and the mystery and adventure within the pocket universes through the Metigen portal. The latter reminded me a lot of classic, old-school sci fi with space explorers, alien life, and some sort of behind-the-scenes plot by an evil entity.
It was also great to see so many familiar faces. I think back to reading Starshine and remember what a hard time I had keeping track of all the characters, but now, even though they don’t all have huge roles, they’re like old friends. It has been fun to see certain characters shine from book to book too. A couple of my favorite minor characters played larger roles in this story, and that was fun to see.
We’ve once again been left with a glimpse of what’s coming next, and I’m very excited to find out what it is!
Sidespace is Book 1 of the Aurora Renegades trilogy, the second act in the three-part Aurora Rhapsody series. Find it on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback formats!
About G.S. Jennsen:
G. S. Jennsen is a science fiction author, futurist, geek & gamer (as well as a recovering lawyer and software engineer).
In less than two years she has become an internationally bestselling author, selling in excess of 50,000 books since her first novel, Starshine, was published in March 2014.
When she isn’t writing, she’s gaming or working out or getting lost in the Colorado mountains that loom large outside the windows in her home. Or she’s dealing with a flooded basement, or standing in a line at Walmart reading the tabloid headlines and wondering who all of those people are. Or sitting on her back porch with a glass of wine, looking up at the stars, trying to figure out what could be up there.
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