Earth Flight

Overview: An epic climax to a great story that manages to pack a powerful ani-prejudice message with very human characters into a grand Science Fiction story full of a sense of wonder.This is not YA fiction. This is fiction for anyone who has an imagination.After 1st Read: Sometimes a book just surprises you. I started reading this series because I wanted a bit of light entertainment, but ended up discovering a top notch author at the start of her writing career.There were many things that impressed me about the series. The most obvious was the way characters are introduced through the eyes of an initially prejudiced main character as almost simple achetypes, only to have the surface layer stripped away to reveal shocking complexity - overtly playing with the reader's expectations. This works as a metaphor for the whole series. It opens as what seems to be a standard YA - a young misunderstood girl heading off to uni, it ends as a very complex, psychological and philosophical triumph - while managing to stay so very human, intimate and moving.That's a lot of serious stuff to say about a story following a teenage girl, with the apparently simple title of “Earth Girl”.I think the magic is in two things, style and depth.Firstly there's the style. The story is told in first person with a healthy dash of humour. No matter how grand and epic the plot, or the social issues (and this book addresses many, very frankly) we are always brought back down to Earth by the human impact of these issues on normal people, their hopes, fears and loves. In this last book in particular we see the harsh impact of politics and prejudice on very normal people, how it can tear apart and devastate their lives. Yet no matter how dark the plot, there is a warmth to the style and characters that draws you through, ensuring that you want to keep reading. The closest author in style that I can think of is [a: Anne McCaffrey 26 Anne McCaffrey https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1599324585p2/26.jpg] and that is a serious complement.The depth leaves me desperate for more. I've already mentioned the psychological depth of the characters (which may be a surprise to some casual readers of YA) but the depth of the setting is almost magical. It is slowly revealed as the books progress, but by the end we can see a vast web of complex societies that have developed over a fascinating history. So many of those events are told in passing and I would dearly love to see them developed into full novels, if not series in their own right. I don't think I've been this excited about a future history since [a: Isaac Asimov 16667 Isaac Asimov https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1341965730p2/16667.jpg], and yes, that's another big complement.I know what a lot of people are thinking, this is about a teenage girl, it's just an excuse for teenage romance right? There is romance. Well written, funny and moving. No this is not your classic “teenage love triangle” of the “Oooh, should I go for the rough dangerous one, or the caring floppy haired one”. This is more complicated, more real and more human. It doesn't feel artificial, it is part of the character development and I totally loved it. (OK I'm soppy, but I don't care ;-) )All of that from a book with a simple title with what seemed like a simple plot? I am surprised, but very happily so.After 2nd Read: This book surprised me a second time. The “journey” the character goes through really moved me. The world created by the author worked as a surprisingly detailed universe, there are so many references that I spotted this time round that show that what we see is just the top of the iceberg. The issues addressed are so relevant to our current reality and so deadly serious that at times it really grabbed me in the chest.I am now torn - I really, deeply, want a to see what happens next, but I what nothing on Earth to get in the way of Ms Edward's other projects which are also so good...but this book ended with so much potential.... and yet I'd love her to do a prequel about Telon Blaze! Why can't we clone Ms Edwards so we can get even more great books like this?After 3rd Read: I am blown away for the third time. My comments above are all true, I love the characters, I'm moved and enraged by the very real issues of prejudice addressed in the book and I'm left gasping for breath by the awesome universe created by the author. I feel as if I'm in a grand cathedral in total darkness with only a small light illuminating a small corner of the wonders and letting me know how much more there is to see.Once more I wouldn't want to take the author away from her other work (it's all so good), but I so wish I could read the story of Tellon Blaze, or of the fall of the Second Roman Empire, or of Paul who was summoned by Kairos. This time I do have more to read however. I am so grateful that Ms Edwards has been releasing on her website, chapter by chapter, a continuation novella. I can't wait to see what happens next!