Review: Chain Reaction by Zoe Archer

Title: Chain Reaction (8th Wing #2)
Author: Zoe Archer
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy Romance
Heat Index: 2 out of 5
Release Date: January 9th, 2012
Word/Page Count: 43,000 words
Format: NetGalley

Elite 8th Wing pilot Celene Jur was taken captive after a mysterious device temporarily disabled her ship's controls. Three solar months later, when Celene receives intel on the man who built the device, she's ready to get the bastard. Only problem is, the higher-ups think her mission partner should be Nils Calder, a tech-head who can understand the disabling device. The attraction between them is electric, but Celene needs a soldier who can watch her back as she exacts her revenge.

Nils knows his department is nicknamed NerdWorks. Pilots like Celene think the closest tech geeks come to combat is all-night Nifalian chess tournaments. But behind the NerdWorks insignia on his sleeve Nils is an able fighter, ready to prove himself and gain Celene's trust.

The desire between them is unexpected, but with the fate of thousands hanging in the balance, the hotshot pilot and the tech genius must succeed in their mission—no matter the cost.

Maniai's Review:

I'm going to preface this by saying that Zoe Archer is one of my favorite authors. I loved Collision Course, the first book of this 8th Wing series. I think she has a really unique and fresh approach to romance, both in her scifi stories and her historical paranormals.

So, that said, it pains me to give Chain Reaction three stars. I think I understand what she was trying to do with this book - the nerdy hero and the badass, untouchable heroine, the sort of high-school-crush dynamic that turns into a real relationship, etc. But it just... didn't work for me. I really got the feeling that the whole book was rushed and/or crammed into too small of a space. Which resulted in WAY too much telling and backstory. End result - it felt like it was phoned in. I really think that if she'd been given a canvas of, say 300 pages in which to develop the characters and unfold their personalities for us firsthand, rather than telling us about their histories, the story would have been great.

If you're new to Zoe Archer, I recommend starting with something *other* than Chain Reaction.

C-. Sorry, Ms. Archer. Really looking forward to the next Hellions book, though!





Arai's Review:

Celene Jur is a Black Wraith pilot for the 8th Wing and considered a legend among her comrades. However, even with her flying talent, she’s unable to keep her ship from being disabled by an unknown device, letting both her Black Wraith and herself be captured by the enemy. Fortunately, she was rescued before she could be sold into slavery. Once she returns to 8th Wing, intel comes in on the identity of the man that created the device. She’s sent on a mission to stop the sale of the device and to bring the man back to 8th Wing for trial. One catch, though; her companion for this mission is Nils Calder, engineer. Though Celene makes it abundantly clear that she’d rather have one of her fellow pilots as her partner, she’s stuck with “Nerdworks.” Celene is in for a surprise, though, once she discovers there’s more to Nils than just his intelligence.

Chain Reaction is the second novella in the 8th Wing series by Zoe Archer. While the events of Celene’s kidnapping took place in the first book, the details are fleshed out enough in the beginning of the second novella that the reader doesn’t feel they’re lost if they haven’t read “Collision Course.”

The main plot of the book is interesting; we discover that one of 8th Wing’s own engineers has turned against them, making a device that can disable the one advantage they have over their enemies. The world itself is rather rich and full of opportunity, which hopefully Ms. Archer will expand upon in the future.

I did have a couple issues with this book, the first of which was I never truly felt any connection to the characters. Celene laments that nobody ever sees her more than “Stainless Jur” the fighter pilot. Honestly, Ms. Archer doesn’t give the reader much chance to see more than that, either. When we’re in Celene’s point-of-view, her thoughts are consistently focused on the fact that people only see her as “Stainless Jur.” That’s it. And Nils’ cute butt. When we’re in Nils’ POV, his thoughts about Celene mostly consist of all the stories he’s heard about her, admiring her fighting/piloting ability, and lusting after her. In my opinion, this doesn’t give much depth to a character and, also, doesn’t give the reader much opportunity to build their own relationship and understanding of Celene.

The subject of Celene’s reputation as “Stainless Jur” is another one of the issues that annoyed me. When the reader is in her POV, we are consistently told how she is unable to maintain a relationship with any man.

And as for having a romantic relationship…by becoming one of the best pilots, she’d inadvertently consigned herself to celibacy. She could never be the flawless paragon her lovers wanted. Stainless Jur—that’s who they desired. Tough experience had taught her that it was better to be alone than see the disappointment in her lovers’ eyes when they learned she wasn’t a goddess, only a woman.

Notice how I said “told.” We never see any example of this in the novel, though one could argue make the argument that Nils only really knows her as the fighter pilot, not the person. He doesn’t reject her for it, though. Normally, this wouldn’t bother me much since the story is a novella but Celene’s insecurity in regards to her reputation is one of the main components to the romance plotline. As a result, we’re told this, never shown, at least once every chapter whenever she has an encounter with Nils.

My last issue with this novella was that it felt as if Ms. Archer was simply going by the outline of every romance/action novel. You have your kiss that could potentially lead to more, only to be interrupted by big event. You have your gratuitous sex scene plopped in between two action events, the characters high on an adrenaline rush. You have your big showy kiss at the end in front of everyone as the announcement of your relationship. A relationship that, by the way, unites the jocks and the geeks. Sorry, the pilots and the engineers. The high school feel of the character designations was another small irk for me. Granted, a lot of novels feature these events. What made it stand out in such stark contrast for me in this novella was that the plot line failed to engage me enough to distract me from the formulaic feel of the events.

I’ve heard several wonderful things about Ms. Archer and her books so I’ll definitely give her another shot in the future. For me, this book held a certain amount of entertainment while I was reading it, but my frustration won out at the end.