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Katya World Strange Chemistry Jonathan L Howard Books

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Katya World Strange Chemistry Jonathan L Howard Books

Strange Chemistry is the Young Adult imprint of Angry Robot books, a new publisher of cutting edge science fiction and fantasy in print and ereader formats. I am a fan of the entire publisher, having bought and read several of their offerings and suggest that other readers explore this intriguing new publisher at their earliest convenience. Now for Katya's World.

Not since Frank Herbert created the desert planet of Dune has there been a planet of such stark singularity as Russalka. Russalka is the polar opposite of Dune in that this land is all stormy sea and electrical storms, with the only dry land not land at all but the polar ice caps that are necessary for any planet to maintain life. Russalka was discovered on survey missions to find livable planets for colonization and was almost passed over because of the lack of land and harsh conditions, but the sea, the sea is full of numerous, rare and precious minerals. And thus it came to be colonized by people whose economy would be based on mining those minerals and selling them not only to distant Earth but to other nearby colonies. Earth disappeared from the scene for a while and reappeared a hundred years later after civil strife expecting to take over the riches and government of Russalka. As might be imagined, this resulted in a bloody war of independence against a colonial power.

Now meet, Katya, a fifteen year old girl who has just been granted her navigation certificate and is about to embark on her first submarine voyage as a navigator. People grow up quickly on Russalka, not only does the environment require it, but the fact that almost two generations of adults were effectively lost in the war of independence and the need to rebuild has made workers of all kinds more vital than ever. Katya's first mission goes awry almost at once. Her uncle's ship is commandeered to transport a prisoner through unusually harsh waters and then their ship is attacked by something none of them can identify.

Just what the attacking entity is forms one of the central mysteries of the book, along with the mystery of the courtly prisoner who seems to have so much arcane knowledge and the truth about the pirates who troll the waters as well as the few citizens who live on the dangerous ocean surface, manufacturing goods and trading the raw materials. Katya's World is intensely political and intensely personal. The politics are more than believable as are the relationships between family and the various crews encountered in the course of the adventures. One of my favorite things about this novel is that there was no love interest. None, nada, zilch. Not even a character who would develop into that later. It isn't that love doesn't exist on Russalka, it does and is clearly shown, but Russalkans have survival as their main imperative followed closely by trying to learn the truth about the physical and political situation on their planet. Many wars with many antagonists are brewing. Nor is the heroine always perfect. Raised in harsh conditions to be competent and brilliant by birth Katya is believeable as a prodigy, but she makes the mistakes that lack of experience and maturity would lead any fifteen year old to make. In short I loved this book.

My one criticism is that even though the plot moved like a rocket ship and who doesn't like that, Russalka, the politics, the relationships and the other characters were all so intriguing that I wouldn't have minded slowing down to savor them more. Angry Robot does seem to edit with the idea that something exciting must happen on every page as a rule of thumb and while there are arguments to recommend this, Katya's World had so much happening that it didn't require editorial gimmicks. I am a convert to the trilogy to come and will pre-order the next volume as soon as it is available. This is the kind of YA that is suitable for both teenagers and adults and a treat is in store for anyone who reads it. Recommended to fans of good YA science fiction and especially for readers of Dune for the quiet homage to Herbert's inhospitable planet that Katya's World represents. Probably my favorite new YA novel so far this year.


Tags : Amazon.com: Katya's World (Strange Chemistry) (9781908844132): Jonathan L. Howard: Books,Jonathan L. Howard,Katya's World (Strange Chemistry),Strange Chemistry,1908844132,Fantasy - General,Imaginary places,Imaginary places;Fiction.,Monsters;Fiction.,Science fiction,Voyages and travels,Voyages and travels;Fiction.,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12),Fiction,JUVENILE FICTION Animals Marine Life,JUVENILE FICTION Fantasy & Magic,JUVENILE FICTION Science Fiction,Monsters,Science fiction (Children's Teenage),YOUNG ADULT FICTION Fantasy General,Young Adult Fiction

Katya World Strange Chemistry Jonathan L Howard Books Reviews

Howard delivers in this series. You'll have a hard time walking away from Katya.
Katya's World is great! An exciting and dangerous water world, steampunk-ish submarines, and a girl protagonist who is level headed and doesn't fall in love with the dashing rogue. I really can't recommend this book enough!
Pretty good sci fi novel. Like Lem's classic, Solaris, it takes place on a planet covered by water. I loved Howard's Johannes Cabal, Necromancer stories so much that I decided to try anything he publishes. This is quite different from those fantasy novels, but has some of the same elements of dangerous adventure, humor, and creative steampunk science. Also an excellent young adult female hero.
Very good! Didn't think it would be for me when I started it, but it turned out to not be a submarine, military drama. It is a very well thought out science fiction book. Looking forward to reading the second!
Katya's World is populated by great characters, authentic detail, and an original story. I love how, in a Young Adult series starring a young lady, there's no tacked on romantic subplot, no man come to save her - it's down to her own wits and bravery.
The story is interesting. The characters are compelling. It's finally a story about a heroine who doesn't spend any time at all wondering "WHICH BOY WILL I CHOOSE??? OMG" so that's awesome. However, I'm a huge fan of Johannes Cabal. If you're looking at this because you love that series, this is not going to satisfy. I was disappointed. I was hoping for the wit and dry humor of Johannes Cabal but found a very straightforward sci-fi adventure story. It wasn't bad, just not what I was looking for from Jonathan L. Howard.
Dive! Dive! Dive!

There is a tragic lack of space opera in the genre of Young Adult Fiction, a genre seemingly dominated by vampires or post-apocalyptia and sometimes those are not seperate. Not that some of those books are bad. It is simply a good old fashioned space adventure would be greatly appreciated.

Katya’s World is not a good old fashioned space adventure, but it is of a sub-genre that is greatly needed pure science fiction.

The book takes place on the distant world of Russalka, an ocean world settled by Earth after an over population crisis. In order to avoid conflict among ethnic lines, all of the people settled there were originally Russian in descent. This already sets it apart from other books which usually feature American casts or fictional nationalities. The planet has no landmasses save the ice caps, so the settlers built there settlements either within the ocean floor or on floating platforms. Russalkins as they called themselves, using the worlds mineral wealth, built a society together, connected by submarines. The Russalkins became a tough, hardy people, stubborn and proud. They fought hard for their lives and fought even harder for it in a bloody war against Earth. The war is over but the oceans of Russalka have long memories and for some the war has not ended...

The setting is where the book really shines. Ocean planets have been done before in books and films but the planet of Russalka feels very real. The author does a good job of portraying submarine technology in realistic ways and integrating futuristic technology into them in ways that feel plausible. It also portrays the dangers of traveling beneath the ocean in ways that are genuinely threatening. Interesting, that in speculative fiction, the dangers of traveling the oceans are always emphasized but it is usually moot on the dangers of space travel...

The main character of Katya is very well done. Like in most young adult fiction, Katya seems a little mature for fifteen years old, but this is excused considering the rough existence people lead on Russalka. She is smart and capable and at times she often vulnerable and scared.

The excellent characterization extends to the other characters as well. Katya’s crew mates and her antagonists, all are well developed and like Katya express both confidence and fear in very authentic ways. This particularly evident during the crises that erupt throughout the story. No spoilers but the fear is very palatable.

This has been stated before, but what is really nice about Katya’s World is that Mr. Howard avoided putting any sort of romance in the text. That aspect of young adult fiction is starting to get genuinely tiresome. All too often it seems that the young heroine falls in love with the guy who honestly seems like a bit of a jerk and is all too often the antagonists early on in the plot. Anime’s influence seems to be gaining. Thankfully this is avoided in Katya’s World, and while it seems there is a bit of bond between Katya and the male lead, there is virtually no romance.

Final Rating

Katya’s is an exciting and imaginative adventure on a far away planet. This breathes a breath of fresh air into genre that seems to repeat the same thing over and over. Bookworm hopes that more authors follow its example.

Can’t wait to read the sequels.

Five out Five Stars.
Strange Chemistry is the Young Adult imprint of Angry Robot books, a new publisher of cutting edge science fiction and fantasy in print and ereader formats. I am a fan of the entire publisher, having bought and read several of their offerings and suggest that other readers explore this intriguing new publisher at their earliest convenience. Now for Katya's World.

Not since Frank Herbert created the desert planet of Dune has there been a planet of such stark singularity as Russalka. Russalka is the polar opposite of Dune in that this land is all stormy sea and electrical storms, with the only dry land not land at all but the polar ice caps that are necessary for any planet to maintain life. Russalka was discovered on survey missions to find livable planets for colonization and was almost passed over because of the lack of land and harsh conditions, but the sea, the sea is full of numerous, rare and precious minerals. And thus it came to be colonized by people whose economy would be based on mining those minerals and selling them not only to distant Earth but to other nearby colonies. Earth disappeared from the scene for a while and reappeared a hundred years later after civil strife expecting to take over the riches and government of Russalka. As might be imagined, this resulted in a bloody war of independence against a colonial power.

Now meet, Katya, a fifteen year old girl who has just been granted her navigation certificate and is about to embark on her first submarine voyage as a navigator. People grow up quickly on Russalka, not only does the environment require it, but the fact that almost two generations of adults were effectively lost in the war of independence and the need to rebuild has made workers of all kinds more vital than ever. Katya's first mission goes awry almost at once. Her uncle's ship is commandeered to transport a prisoner through unusually harsh waters and then their ship is attacked by something none of them can identify.

Just what the attacking entity is forms one of the central mysteries of the book, along with the mystery of the courtly prisoner who seems to have so much arcane knowledge and the truth about the pirates who troll the waters as well as the few citizens who live on the dangerous ocean surface, manufacturing goods and trading the raw materials. Katya's World is intensely political and intensely personal. The politics are more than believable as are the relationships between family and the various crews encountered in the course of the adventures. One of my favorite things about this novel is that there was no love interest. None, nada, zilch. Not even a character who would develop into that later. It isn't that love doesn't exist on Russalka, it does and is clearly shown, but Russalkans have survival as their main imperative followed closely by trying to learn the truth about the physical and political situation on their planet. Many wars with many antagonists are brewing. Nor is the heroine always perfect. Raised in harsh conditions to be competent and brilliant by birth Katya is believeable as a prodigy, but she makes the mistakes that lack of experience and maturity would lead any fifteen year old to make. In short I loved this book.

My one criticism is that even though the plot moved like a rocket ship and who doesn't like that, Russalka, the politics, the relationships and the other characters were all so intriguing that I wouldn't have minded slowing down to savor them more. Angry Robot does seem to edit with the idea that something exciting must happen on every page as a rule of thumb and while there are arguments to recommend this, Katya's World had so much happening that it didn't require editorial gimmicks. I am a convert to the trilogy to come and will pre-order the next volume as soon as it is available. This is the kind of YA that is suitable for both teenagers and adults and a treat is in store for anyone who reads it. Recommended to fans of good YA science fiction and especially for readers of Dune for the quiet homage to Herbert's inhospitable planet that Katya's World represents. Probably my favorite new YA novel so far this year.