#23 Nebula's Music

Yay, my twenty-third book in the SFR Challenge! Nearly done!

Nebula's Music
Author Aubrie Dionne
Pages: 94.

This is the story of human-cyborg, Nebula, and her journey of self-discovery. About years after her creation she begins to experience memories from her donor's prior life. These memories involve a captured rebel fighter who is being held on the ship she works on.

Radian, a rebel fighter, is the former fiance of the woman from whom Nebula was created. He's vowed to avenge her death and rescue her sister, who was captured by the alien Gryhponites as slave labor.

Though Nebula is no longer the woman Radian loved, she's drawn to him and joins his mission to rescue his love's sister.

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Review: MINOR SPOILER ALERT!!!

Overall, I enjoyed this story even though it didn't quite live up to my expectations. The cover rocks. It's beautiful! Loved that. The characters are interesting. Nebula is an accomplished pianist and excellent at her job. Her self-discovery is steady. Her memories are realistic and poignant. I liked the secondary characters. Some were really likable.

Radian is a good hero. He's dashing and committed and thoroughly in love with the not-so-wonderful woman Nebula once was.

I did feel the story was a bit rushed, as if the author was told to finish in 100 pages but needed 150. Neb and Radian fell for each other a bit too fast, even given their past. Others were too accomodating and trusting of strangers to me. One secondary character, a boy of 15, acted and was treated more like my 4 year old than a teenager. That part pulled me out of the story, though it may not bother anyone else.

Nebula didn't live up to her full cyborg potential to me. She kept saying how she was stronger, faster, smarter, etc., than humans but then in some instances where she could have really shined she stood back and watched or it sounded like she was just doing what all the normal humans could. Most of her potential was used playing the piano or doing math. Again, it felt like some of this was cut out to make the story shorter.

I still liked the story. There was enough to keep me reading.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!
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My only qualm about the technical aspects of the worldbuilding is who would create a space craft that splits in two and not put a control bridge on both parts? It's fun conflict but really? Would they do that?

My only qualm on the Romance side is that Radian basically admits he loves Nebula because she looks like the woman he once loved who, even her sister admits, wasn't very nice, didn't love him back and made accepting his proposal conditional to his letting her sister live with them. Neb remembers this too. Nebula's a lot nicer than her donor so it's no wonder he jumped at the chance to be with her.



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Qualms or not, I did enjoy most of the story and wanted to find out what would happen next. I would read another story set in this universe and I would read another story by this author.

Anna