Review – Goddess in the Machine (Goddess in the Machine, Book 1) by Lora Beth Johnson (3/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 400 pages
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: June 30, 2020
ISBN-13 : 978-1984835925
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Goddess in the Machine series
Source: Owlcrate
Rating: 3/5 stars
“When Andra wakes up, she’s drowning.
Not only that, but she’s in a hot, dirty cave, it’s the year 3102, and everyone keeps calling her Goddess. When Andra went into a cryonic sleep for a trip across the galaxy, she expected to wake up in a hundred years, not a thousand. Worst of all, the rest of the colonists–including her family and friends–are dead. They died centuries ago, and for some reason, their descendants think Andra’s a deity. She knows she’s nothing special, but she’ll play along if it means she can figure out why she was left in stasis and how to get back to Earth.
Zhade, the exiled bastard prince of Eerensed, has other plans. Four years ago, the sleeping Goddess’s glass coffin disappeared from the palace, and Zhade devoted himself to finding it. Now he’s hoping the Goddess will be the key to taking his rightful place on the throne–if he can get her to play her part, that is. Because if his people realize she doesn’t actually have the power to save their dying planet, they’ll kill her.
With a vicious monarch on the throne and a city tearing apart at the seams, Zhade and Andra might never be able to unlock the mystery of her fate, let alone find a way to unseat the king, especially since Zhade hasn’t exactly been forthcoming with Andra. And a thousand years from home, is there any way of knowing that Earth is better than the planet she’s woken to?”
Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Goddess in the Machine series. I believe that this is supposed to be a duology. I got a copy of this book in my Owlcrate.
Story (3/5): Andra wakes up from cyonic sleep to find herself alone. Eventually she finds out she slept a thousand years rather than the hundred she was supposed to sleep. She doesn’t know any of the colonists, weirder yet they worship her as some sort of goddess. Her goal is to get back to Earth, even if it means playing the games of a Goddess in the city of Eerensed. I really liked the beginning of this book a lot. It had some very cool sci-fi elements and adventure. I loved the wandering “pockets” of destruction. I also enjoyed some of the twists and turns here. Things were a lot slower in last two thirds of the book and, when I think back on it, it just doesn’t seem like much happened. The book is decently tied up with a glimpse into what the second book will bring.
Characters (3/5): I wasn’t a huge fan of the characters in here. Andra doesn’t grow much throughout the book and acts like a confused and slightly spoiled teen throughout. I just didn’t engage with her well. Zhade is more fun, witty and quick on his feet. Unfortunately, he also felt a bit hollow to me and just wasn’t filled out. I enjoyed Merit more, he is more complex but even he fell a little short as the somewhat sympathetic villain. Some of the side characters were way more interesting, like Doon or even Andra’s maid and I would love to hear their stories.
Setting (4/5): I loved the setting and some of the major twists around the setting. The world has a very desolate desert feel to it. I loved the concept of pockets of darkness that devour everything they hit (these are intriguing and well explained). Much of the story is focused on the city of Eerensed which was the least interesting part of this world to me. I wish more of this had taken place out in the wastelands beyond the city, hopefully we’ll see more of the world in the next book.
Writing Style (3/5): This is a good effort at a unique writing style. The majority of the characters speak in a slightly different version of English language, you kind of have to sound out the words in your head as you are reading to make sense of it. This bothered me a little bit at first but I got used to it pretty quickly. I do think that this aspect is something a lot of readers will dislike though and I don’t think doing this sort of thing is necessary for a good story, it’s more distracting than intriguing. I liked the idea behind the story but it ends up moving pretty slow at points, more consistent pacing throughout would have been nice. The middle portions where Andra is supposed to be learning how to “goddess” were boring and long.
My Summary (3/5): Overall I liked the idea behind this story and really enjoyed the beginning of it and the introduction to this world. The book ends at a good spot and there are some interesting twists and turns here. I didn’t find the characters all that interesting and thought the story had very inconsistent pacing. I also think having the characters speak in modified English was unnecessary and will be flat out frustrating for some readers. I don’t plan on finishing the duology, I am fine with where it ended and don’t need to read any more.
