"Regeneration" is probably the most exciting and action-packed book in the Species Imperative Trilogy. All the characters have been drawn, all the stages have been set, and now it's time to let the story be told. Mac and her friends, both alien and human must face the treats to the Interspecies Union, defeat the enemies of all life forms, and try to prevent the various species involved from going at each other in the process. This all plays out in page-turning action that sometimes was missing from the earlier two books. Loaded with nifty aliens, and interesting human characters as well, this is a very satisfying conclusion to the series.

A wonderful conclusion to an outstanding series! What we've got here is a cranky scientist, Mac, who just wants to spend more time with her data -- but who isn't gonna get it. The series gets off to a slow start, but after a while, you can't help loving her character.

Overall, Julie Czerneda has outdone herself this time. The trilogy is full of what she does best: fun and fascinating aliens. It's also got several lovable characters who it is just plain fun to spend time with. This book is a strong conclusion to a great series. Worth a read, if you can be patient with the setup in the first book of the trilogy.

Regeneration is the concluding book of the Species Imperative trilogy by Julie Czerneda, finishing up where n  Survivaln and n  Migrationn had left off. We finally get to learn the story behind the evident rampage of the Dhryn across the galaxy--and what the ultimate goals of the Ro are. The nitpicks I had with the first two books still apply here, and I have to admit that towards the ending of the story I started skimming rather than reading in depth... which suggests to me that the book could have used maybe one more edit pass.

By and large though I did quite enjoy reading it. I approve of carrying out a romance with a love interest who actually gets very little screen time--which makes the time he is on screen more effective. Though, the swoonability of Nik aside (or should I be saying yumminess? Har), I also have to admit that I found the final resolutions between the characters just a tad too romance-novel-tidy.

I was almost disappointed that Mudge didn't get to be the love interest after all. I mean, he got way more screen time getting his character developed and having his relationship with Mac progress, and I kinda feel like the poor man deserved to get the girl after all that. ;) Having him do the Hero Thing and clonk Nik out and then stay behind was a pretty good substitute, but then, I think that I'd have liked that plot path a little better if he had indeed heroically died. As it happens, having him get to be alive at the end (and presumably free to pursue amorous intentions towards the second-in-command of the Annapolis Joy) seemed a little too predictable and pat.

I really did like the lamnas rings, though. Those were a very cool little way of keeping Nik's activities on the reader's mind even if he wasn't actually on camera--and I also liked that what Mac got out of them was very jagged and erratic, which I felt very neatly reflected that Nik wasn't an expert at using the things and had no idea what they would actually do. And I was vaguely bummed that Mac didn't check what was in the last one!

Anyway, a decent book overall. Taken as a whole, the Species Imperative Trilogy isn't as solid as the Web Shifters one, nor A Thousand Words for Stranger. I'd say three stars for this book, maybe three and a half for the series as a whole.

Great ending to a great series!

Page 6 of the first volume: "...the western coast of the Pacific, from the Bering Strait to Tierra del Fuego" – I learnt right from left at an early age, but I still occasionally have trouble with east and west, and yet here is one of my favourite authors apparently telling me Tierrra del Fuego on the west coast of the Pacific! I confess this rankled with me and possibly put me off Book 1 (Survival), but it did get better.

As a whole, I still think "Species Imperative" is not as good as her other trilogies, but the same believable aliens, each with their individual characters, are there, and Julie's writing would probably hold my interest even if it were about landfill. Oh, and don't forget the many and sometimes shocking twists that seem to be a feature of her stories.

I was looking forward to finishing this book, a) so I would be done with it, and b) so I could write this scathing review. First and foremost, let me say that the writing was overall good, but the editing for the third book was clearly incomplete (typos, repeating language, etc.). The story was convoluted, and the end of the conflict with the Ro was unnecessarily drawn out. But my real issue with the series, and especially this last book, was the characters. I hated every single one of them. Here’s why.

Mac, the protagonist, was written to be a snarky, intelligent, scientist. However, somehow she ends up being the object of everyone’s admiration and love/lust, the focus of a whole species (why did the Ro care about her anyway?), and the only person in the room ever able to figure anything out, ever. In some ways, it felt as if the author (also a biologist) was living her own fantasy in the form of Mac’s character. Aside from the unrealistic importance given to her, Mac herself was just a crappy person. She treated grad students like children (sorry, they’re not, and I’ve had my doctorate for a while now so I can say that). She objectified her significant other – the “yummy” thing was so incredibly off-putting, I almost stopped reading the first time Mac said it. Also, “get your own spy” as if her boyfriend belonged to her? Barf. Finally, her lack of interest in aliens or alien species was, to me, completely off-putting as a fellow scientist. You don’t have to be a biologist to find other species fascinating.

As a Latina, Emily’s depiction in the series was a very sore spot for me as well. She was the stereotypical not-serious, sex-crazed Latin woman, whose technical accomplishments were only mentioned in passing, with the focus always on her looks and her blind pursuit of men. And her huge contribution at the end – finding the Ro portal which saved everyone’s lives – was mentioned almost as a footnote! I literally said out loud, “What the Hell?” because Emily saved everyone, and it is never mentioned after the fact.

Other characters were laughable in their flatness. Nik had no endearing qualities (no, “yummy” definitely does not count) nor any unique personality traits. While Mudge and Fourteen were better fleshed out, saying “Harrumph” or “Idiot” over and over again is not character development! Nor is their being obsessed with Mac (Ew…just ew.). The Sinzi were all the same, and the other species added unnecessary complexity to their stories. The mention of the species of pregnant females being the cause of conflict due to pregnancy hormones was incredibly sexist, unnecessary to the story, and just plain lazy writing.

All in all, the second and third books get one star from me, but I liked the first book, so that brings my rating up a little bit. The story was dragged out in the last two books, and the fact that Mac never actually made it to her destination was incredibly frustrating as a reader.

I was really excited to read this series as an author and a scientist, and because it had a high score here on Goodreads. But, sadly, I was very disappointed by the end.

Very good ending to a many-paged series. The whole thing has been filled with plenty of interesting characters, a good bit of humor, and a complex plot.

On re-read (2/17), upped this to five stars for the series as a whole. Just really excellent SF.
Again, 9/21.

Regeneration is the end of a trilogy, and I think I liked it even better than the trilogy that ended with To Trade the Stars. The science part of the sci-fi was heavily weighted towards the biological, and Czerneda’s alien species were fascinating. I also loved the main character, and found her interaction with her students and friends so charming that my children learned the teasing chant, “No ribs for Mac! No ribs for Mac! Mac gets salad and BEER!” (Um, guess you had to be there.) Anyways, though the start of each book is a little slow, I highly recommend this series. (And it also gets the coveted “appeals to both sexes award”, as my husband gobbled up this series too.)

C

Done! Again a slow start, not sure why. But a great ending. Or is it?

life is stubborn.

About on a par with the first two books. Great and varied alien species, mediocre writing, and a protagonist that by now one just wants to give a good shaking. The plot is fine, but the ending seems anti-climactic in how it depicts the final defeat of the bad aliens, and then gives us a twist, oops, there are remnants of them still out there evolving into something else ending. Meh.