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Half Share (2007)

by Nathan Lowell(Favorite Author)

4.18 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

podiobooks.com

series

Golden Age of the Solar Clipper

review 1: The beginning makes you nervous with Ish, for what might be the reason the Captain wants to see him. Then when he walks into the meeting to see all the senior staff there! You are pulled in wondering what has gone wrong.We start right where Quarter Share ended. It seems the series will follow right through with Ish each step of the way with his life, as he quickly grows with the crew.Our boys move up the ladder, well, mostly. Pip is still in the mess hall, but he has acquired a status for his trading. Ish has moved to Environmental, with an increase in his pay share and mass.Once again Ish's personality - calm and helping - has earned him trust from the new member taking his spot in the mess hall, Sarah. Sarah is broken and has had a rough life before here. Sarah ha... mores really grown on me as a new character, and grew as a character, and I really like her. Ish's personality helps influence her and others around him, bringing them up emotionally as well. The crew seems to be a tight family and growing closer as the days pass. Such a nice crew to be with!With the change in Ish's position on the ship comes change. We leave one bunk birth for another, which is kind of like moving houses. We still see those we spent so much time with in Quarter Share, but also spend more time with others we'd meet in the crew. We get to know the crew and their area of expertise which also bringing learning about deep space and planets into a closer view for us.That is one thing I enjoy about these books, getting to learn the world(s) Nathan has created in his books through the characters. What they specialize in and how it relates to the job they perform in this specialized world. The trade is how we learn of the different planets. Well related with character centered story.Ish is growing as a character, and ready to get new clothes for when they are at dock on planets. He's not sure who he is though, and the clothes make the man. Ish has some thinking to do of who he is and who he wants to be. When they come to the next planet, Ish has his introduction to an amazing tailor all the women are in awe of. While here, trying on clothes, something happens. Ish learns more of himself. And with the three amazing women with him, there is a new connection created. They are crew and crew don't fraternize, so there is a new bond that connects them all.We learn more of Ish's past, something we really don't know much about. He's not as innocent as we thought from Quarter Share. Not bad by a long stretch, but not as innocent. I know Ish has known people, not friend-friends, and has a literature reading background from his mother, but he seems rather suave with the women for his innocent background and age.Now, after mentioning that, I have to mention the one thing that kind of felt over done to me...Ish's relationships are growing. Ish is flirting with the ladies. He's hanging with the girls and they are acting as they have to protect him. He even "performs" for them with is walk and trying on clothes. No, no sex, but he models and flirts steamy with them all. He gets a bit of a swollen head over the new jeans he buys. He seems to have gone a bit overboard with the Lady Wooing. It's fun, and a few good chuckles over it, but it was growing old for me. He was *too* perfect with his comments and lady wooing.Oh there are fun parts with the flirting, don't get me wrong. Some make me chuckle. We get a look at a Spacers life and the types of relationships they maintain on and off the ship. On the Lois, there might be a lack of a love life, but it is strong with love of a family life feel. Ish sets the relationships to where they need to be, and starts to grow a new one on the outside of the ship as well.This one fell a little short of the first book for me, but nothing that would stop me from listening to the next book. I actually look forward to carrying through with Ish on his deep space life as a Spacer.
review 2: I really liked the first book which inspired me to purchase and download this one from the big A store. It wasn't bad but was both more farcical and in other ways more realistic than the first. There was still a cute cast of characters, although I would like them to be a little more unique to themselves as they have a slight tendency to blend. There is still a nice narrative of "sailing" through the shipping lanes of space and the day to day occurrences on a large vessel. It is still a likable tale...BUT what I did NOT like was the excessive use of NOT, "I did not, I do not, I was not, I could not". It was an awkward phrasing. This was originally a podcast so maybe that phrasing worked better when vocalized, however it didn't work for me in an ebook setting. Another aspect that was unbelievable, and frequently orbited close to ridiculous, was the changes in our hero, Ishmael "you really are good" Wang (as another reviewer commented), pun intended. Ishmael has always been smart, inspired and nice from the beginning. Half Share sees Ish become a studly god-ling. He gets a nice new suit, and suddenly we are to believe he has been transformed into a silver-tongued Adonis. He is 18, I can see him thinking himself to be one, but I have a hard time believing that ALL (and I do mean ALL) women find him so. I liked Ishmael, but IF he is 18, I expect him to be more inexperienced in life EVEN if, as he states, he has not been a virgin since he was 14, and EVEN if he was a lonely only child raised by an ancient lit professor. He is a veritable James Bond with women in this tale (the more effeminate Roger Moore version), without the age, experience, exciting job, or cool cars and gadgets (he just has a fascination with fashion). It is simply beyond belief, and takes away from the tale. I'm not sure if I can venture the third installment... the jury is still out. less

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