4thace reviewed Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes
Review of 'Chilling Effect' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
When I read the first chapter of this I was concerned that it wouldn't be for me, because though I like cats just fine, I don't see them as able to sustain a space opera. Fortunately, however, the animals on La Sirena Negra turn out to be some set decoration mostly, as we get to know the crew and mostly the captain of the ship on their adventures through the galaxy. They go up against aliens, criminals, maniacs, mysteries, and weird ecologies which are sketched out in just enough detail to keep the narrative going at its frantic pace. Captain Eva Innocente is a swashbuckling kind of hero like the ones in old serials, who manages to go on harebrained schemes that go wrong almost right away only to end up saving her skin in the end. There are convincing costs and plenty of regrets to round out her character. …
When I read the first chapter of this I was concerned that it wouldn't be for me, because though I like cats just fine, I don't see them as able to sustain a space opera. Fortunately, however, the animals on La Sirena Negra turn out to be some set decoration mostly, as we get to know the crew and mostly the captain of the ship on their adventures through the galaxy. They go up against aliens, criminals, maniacs, mysteries, and weird ecologies which are sketched out in just enough detail to keep the narrative going at its frantic pace. Captain Eva Innocente is a swashbuckling kind of hero like the ones in old serials, who manages to go on harebrained schemes that go wrong almost right away only to end up saving her skin in the end. There are convincing costs and plenty of regrets to round out her character. The stakes become convincingly high when her family gets involved in an extortion plot, and even higher when the captain loses her ship and crew as she is stranded in a place where she has only herself to get by. I thought this second half of the book where she claws her way back bit by bit was the most enjoyable piece of the story.
Spanish speaking readers will probably get a kick out of the way the main character embodies a larger than life Cuban persona, not just your average rogue. The family dynamic seems calibrated to be a major part of what motivates her. I didn't catch everything the narrator put into the reading but not enough to be a barrier. I can recommend this to someone looking for some light space fantasy adventure in a debut novel.
