Gravity Lost: A Novel L. M. Sagas 9781250871282

This is an excellent book, don’t get me wrong, and yes! You should definitely read it… after you read book one, Cascade Failure, of course. But there’s a problem: book one was so mind-blowingly good it’s impossible to consider the quality of this book without drawing comparisons. Which, in itself, is unfair. Gravity Lost takes its time telling the story. It builds slowly but enjoyably, ramping up the pace and the stakes for our beloved crew with every chapter. Sagas has given much more attention to story construction this time out, whereas in the previous book I felt it was all about the characters. Getting to know them, what made them tick and just what they stand for. But of course, we already know them in this offering. I shed a lot fewer tears on these pages compared to book one, where I blubbed like a fool for the entire last half. And no, I’m not embarrassed about that. There’s a new character introduced in Gravity Lost, Perseus, who was an instant favourite for me, and I have to admit, I was a little disappointed this character didn’t get more page time. But maybe in future books, who knows? Fingers crossed. I have no real gripes about this book, it’s a fantastic read, even if it was never destined to hit the heights of its predecessor. The only frustration I wrestled with was not knowing the kidnap victim. Don’t worry, this is the opening and primary drive of the entire book. I’m not giving anything away. Anyway, we don’t know this person, except for the short previous encounter in book one, we’re given no time to get to know her, and therefore we can’t have sympathy for her initially during her ordeal. I found this quite jarring and distracting. But apart from that, great stuff!