Review: Perdition by Ann Aguirre

Perdition
(Dred Chronicles #1)
by Ann Aguirre
Publisher: Ace
Publisher: Aug. 27, 2013
Genre: Scifi
Rating:

WELCOME TO HELL

The prison ship Perdition, a floating city where the Conglomerate’s most dangerous criminals are confined for life, orbits endlessly around a barren asteroid.

Life inside is even more bleak. Hailed as the Dread Queen, inmate Dresdemona “Dred” Devos controls one of Perdition’s six territories, bordered on both sides by would-be kings eager to challenge her claim. Keeping them at bay requires constant vigilance, as well as a steady influx of new recruits to replace the fallen. Survival is a constant battle, and death is the only escape.

Of the newest convicts, only one is worth Dred’s attention. The mercenary Jael, with his deadly gaze and attitude, may be the most dangerous criminal onboard. His combat skill could give her the edge she needs, if he doesn’t betray her first. Unfortunately, that’s what he does best. Winning Jael’s allegiance will be a challenge, but failure could be worse than death…

 

 

My thoughts…

Perdition is a massive spaceship that orbits around in space. There’s no interaction from the outside world. There’s no chance of escape. There’s really no hope at all for the inmates within the ship. The inmates that have been sentenced to life on Perdition have come up with a system though. There are 5 factions within the ship. There’s a leader of each faction and each has their own territories. Dred’s is clearly the winner of them all given that she regulates her people, keeps the violence to a minimum, and tries to keep life in her sector running smoothly. However, when new inmates arrive on the ship, Dred takes one under her wing, one that doesn’t seem to be quite human. Dred’s learned not to trust anyone on Perdition. After all, she got the position by stabbing the other guy in the back and taking his spot, literally. But, she’s not sure if Jael is on her side, or if he will sell her out the first chance he gets. With a war brewing between sectors, she’s got no choice but to trust him, but will that trust cost her her life?

For being a bunch of humans on a ship, Perdition definitely has that sci-fi vibe. Plus, there were some aliens on the ship that were like rodent people. I’m not usually one for sci-fi novels, I end up finding myself lost and bored with it all. However, I was pretty entertained with this story. It did start out pretty slow as the author sort of gave you the backstory on Perdition, but once all hell broke loose, things started picking up.

Perdition takes place in multiple POV’s. Granted the majority of the book is written in either Dred’s or Jael’s POV, occasionally we got inside the head of a couple other key players. I have to be honest, I know Dred is this bad-ass Dred Queen, but I gravitated more towards Jael’s story. Not only because he was clearly something other and I wanted to know what his story was, but he was just more interesting overall. He wasn’t calculating to make things better, he wasn’t even concerned with anyone but himself, he was just trying to observe and survive. However, over time he started to warm up to those around him and took a liking to Dred and her two close bodyguards.

Not only is Perdition about a ship full of inmates that squabble here and there, there’s a full on war going on on the ship. At first you don’t know about it, but things start leaking through the channels, pawns are put into place, and before you know it it’s a blood bath on the ship. The author didn’t go into too much detail about the gruesome aspects of the fight but there was a lot of violence throughout the book. So, if you are not a fan of violence, then this book isn’t for you.

While this isn’t my genre of choice, I still enjoyed it. I thought the characters were well-rounded, the story was well fleshed out, and the cover is amazing. I mean, it definitely captured the bad-assery of Dred perfectly. If you are a fan of sci-fi, then you have to give this book a shot.

 

Favorite quote…

“Silence inclined her wild mane, regal in her visceral madness. So strange, pretending she had any idea about diplomacy or courtly nonsense. My father would’ve forgotten to put on pants if my mother hadn’t reminded him. But Perdition was as much asylum as prison, and when you were standing in somebody else’s delusions, it was both polite and politic to play along.”

 

 

4 Thoughts on “Review: Perdition by Ann Aguirre

  1. I really like this author but I struggle with sci fi for some reason. I don’t know if this would be the read for me or not. Great review for this though!

  2. I haven’t tried one of her books before!!

  3. Glad to see you enjoyed this one! I have never tried this author, but I’ve seen a lot of positive reviews for her books.

    Great review!

  4. I did a little happy dance when I saw this! I really liked this book, but I’m a sci-fi fan. I thought it was really gritty and intense – definitely a survival of the fittest & most ruthless type of story. But as much as I liked it I’m not too sure I want to carry on with the rest of the series.

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