Outside In by Maria V Snyder (MIRA: Book 2)

What would you do if you were stuck in a giant cube, floating through space and something from the outside wanted in? Well, that is the subject of Maria V Snyder’s latest book. Although I wouldn’t say that Outside In was her best book to date it is still an enjoyable read and kept me so hooked that I accidentally read the first few paragraphs of the Acknowledgments page thinking it was still the novel.

The book continues to follow Trella, the protagonist of Inside Out, as she tries to help get the Cube back into order after the rebellion she incited in the first book. After Trella’s strong performance in Inside Out, she does come across as a bit of a whiny brat at times as she has a tendency of running away from the problems of running the cube. Fortunately she grows out of it as she manages to find herself torn between several growing factions in the cube.

It took a little while to get back into the world of Outside In and remember who all the major players were. If you haven’t read the previous book then I think you’d be lost trying to read this one. Snyder does well at recapping the events of the previous book but only just enough to nudge your memory. While Trella does get on my nerves at times, you do feel her frustration as you try and figure out who to trust for a good portion of the book. I found myself doubting characters in the book on a regular basis until the book culminated into the final action sequence.

The storyline wasn’t as engrossing as I thought it would be but, as I said above, it was interesting enough to make me curl up in my chair and not put it down. One aspect I loved about the final part of this book was that Snyder doesn’t mess around with a prolonged ending that, quite often, dulls the magic of reading a book. Like her other books, Snyder hasn’t messed around with the politics and ramifications of her protagonist’s actions but unlike her other books I can’t quite figure out if there will be another book in the series or whether this is supposed to be the end of the Insider series.

As I said in the review for the previous book, if you enjoy Maria V Snyder’s books then I would highly recommend reading Outside In. As a sci-fi book it doesn’t compare to books such as Ender’s Game but for anyone getting into sci-fi who doesn’t want anything too in-depth then it’s a perfect book to get started with.

7/10 Not as engrossing as Inside Out, but interesting enough.