Last week, after I blogged about Livia Bourne’s book and said that scifi was my first love, Myra got in touch with me and told me that she loved scifi and space opera too, and she had one that she thought that I’d like, and she sent me Delirium. And she was right. I loved it. I loved it so much, I think that I might reread it this weekend. If you like harder scifi, space opera, or completely deranged heroines, then this is definitely a book for you to try out.
Iris has spent many years as a space cargo transport pilot. She has her ship, her androids, and her opium, which she grows on her ship. She pays off people so that she can fly under the radar, and she’s very happy being alone. As long as she has her opium and is high, she’s perfectly happy. This is who she is in the After, and it’s good. There’s just one thing that causes her problems, and that is Big Evil, who is floating around somewhere. She’s trying very hard to avoid him, but that’s OK, she has some very shocking plans around for him if he shows up.
You see, Iris isn’t just a junkie pilot. She’s also a Mech. That means that she can McGuyver anything, with even less than McGuyver would need. She could probably make a death ray out of nothing but a chewing gum wrapper and scotch tape. She wouldn’t even need duct tape for that. She’s also a little bit crazy. And by little bit, I mean full-on sociopath with little to no morals and ethics. I love her. I wouldn’t want to be around her, because the amount of chaos that surrounds her, even when she’s asleep, is at an epically high level. I mean, I can’t even describe the chaos when she’s not trying. When she does try, stand the fuck back. I mean allllll the way back.
Myra’s dedication is a thing of beauty, and that needs all the acknowledgment. And now that we have done that, let’s talk about the way that Myra describes things. Her use of descriptive language is beautiful and elegant. It really brings the story to life and pulls you in. I could practically feel the world because of the textures that she created with words. I want to say that it’s not world-building, not quite, maybe it’s world-building adjacent. I’m not saying that Myra didn’t create a rich and wonderful world, because she did, it’s just something different. I don’t think I’m explaining it well, and that’s sad. I guess that means you are going to have to go read it and find out for yourself, won’t you?
One of my favorite heroines in all the books I’ve read is Sigil from Addison Cain. I’m going to have to put Iris right there next to Sigil. And they are totally in a category of their own.
Big Evil and Daxx are definitely interesting. Daxx has no clue what he is doing. And Big Evil? Well, his name is pretty descriptive, don’t you think?
This is one of those books that I’m almost mad that I’ve read because I can never read it for the first time again.
OMG, that poor Nanny! And the Detox Fairy. And Daxx is just stupid.
OK, go check this out. You’ll thank me. Happy reading!
In Between the Pages 