Grimspace

Grimspace is in a special class of
science fiction--part fairy tale and part epic. Sirantha Jax is one
of the rare number of people with the J-gene, which allows hyperspace
travel via access to a mysterious, surreal subrealm of the universe.
She faces a life of excitement and fame, until her ship goes down,
killing her crew, all the passengers, including a much loved
diplomat, and Jax's lover. Somehow Jax survived and she can't
remember if the accident was her fault or not.

Jax is mentally broken due to the
live-fast, burn-out-young jumper lifestyle, the death of her lover,
Kai, and the damaging therapy she was subjected to after the crash.
Rescued by a mysterious ship and crew who hate her from the beginning
and satisfied to hate back, Jax is flung into a second, social
subrealm of the universe where she's not a rock star-level celebrity
and the world isn't as perfect as the advertisements make it seem.

Yes, there is darkness in this book,
sacrifice, a universal conspiracy, a universal monopoly, vicious
native creatures drawn to blood and insect-like, highly intelligent
bounty hunters. There is the required science (space ships and
discombobulating guns), which serves as a framework for the story of
two broken, soul scarred people finding each other and a life
together and for the myriad of secondary characters, no less defined
or real, all facing incredible odds, just to do what's right.

There's a definite soul to Grimspace
which separates it from the colder, less human slice of science
fiction. All the plots, spanning a single person, a race, and even a
conglomerate of worlds, come together in a story that's only two
tight sex scenes away from powerful, lasting tales like Star Wars.
There is the potential in Aguirre's New York debut to spark its own
trail in the fiction world, making Grimspace a book that leads, not
follows.

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