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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
3,783 global ratings
5 star
51%
4 star
30%
3 star
11%
2 star
5%
1 star
3%
Fluency

Fluency

byJennifer Foehner Wells
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Top positive review

All positive reviews›
Ann F.
5.0 out of 5 starsFascinating first contact story
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2018
There's a giant alien spaceship that appears to be stranded in the Solar System, and a small crew, including a linguist with an unusual ability to learn new languages among them. As she makes contact with the alien intelligence on the ship, she discovers disturbing information and situations as she tries to decide who she can trust and how she can save the intelligence, her crewmates, and, eventually, the future of Earth.

The author does a great job of layering complications, the kind one would expect in such a situation, but without loading too much on the reader at any one time. She also manages a solid balance of science and characterization, never sacrificing one for the other. There are some hand-waving elements, but not ridiculously so.

Overall recommended for hard and soft SF fans.
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26 people found this helpful

Top critical review

All critical reviews›
Loose Leaf Reviews
3.0 out of 5 starsGood story, likable characters, but sometimes unrealistic
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2017
***Review contains spoilers***

I loved the idea behind this story, but there were some things that kept throwing me out of the story. The F bomb. Sometimes the dialogue felt unrealistic or simply repetitive, and Jane Holloway was apparently Wonder Woman while being super humble about it. That sounds harsher than I mean it. I actually liked Jane because she didn't give up.

It took a bit to adjust to the back and forth in time of some of the scenes, but I understand why it was necessary. The switch in points of view as well as moving back and forth in time helped augment the feeling that you couldn't believe everything that was happening. Jane is being manipulated the whole time, tested, and maneuvered into making the choice the alien Ei'Brai wants her to make. He even goes so far as to give Jane the sexual encounter she'd been dreaming of having with Bergen as, wait for it, a very realistic dream. It boils down to mental rape in a way. In the end, things have worked themselves out. Sort of. Jane is now captain of the ship, several of her team look like they might stay with her for the next journey, and Bergen is just as determined to make a relationship work with her.

It was a good book. I think the things that bothered me were simply because this reminded me of another book where the captain has to "link" with the ship in order for it to work. That book however didn't use language or sex to move the plot along--and I loved that.

I give Fluency a 3.75 and an R rating for use of the F word and some the one scene.

1-5 scale and what it means:
1: I couldn’t even finish it / just plain bad
2: I hope I didn’t pay for this / disappointing
3: I didn’t hate it, but it was still missing something / forgettable but inoffensive
3.5: On the line between good and ok / like, not love
4: Solid mind candy / worth reading
4.5: So very close to perfection! / must read
5: I could not put it down and I’m still thinking about it! / a true treasure

Movie Ratings in relation to my review:
Clean--Hallmark movies, some kissing, no nudity, no sex on or off "screen"
PG--Some innuendo but nothing kids don't hear every day, sex is all closed door
PG-13--some language (swear words not related to sex), more talk about sex, heavy petting, removal of clothing on screen, but sex is closed door.
 R--swearing (F bomb), on “screen” sex, sometimes feels like the whole story is about the sex and not the relationship or some other plot, but not always
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28 people found this helpful

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From the United States

Loose Leaf Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Good story, likable characters, but sometimes unrealistic
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2017
Verified Purchase
***Review contains spoilers***

I loved the idea behind this story, but there were some things that kept throwing me out of the story. The F bomb. Sometimes the dialogue felt unrealistic or simply repetitive, and Jane Holloway was apparently Wonder Woman while being super humble about it. That sounds harsher than I mean it. I actually liked Jane because she didn't give up.

It took a bit to adjust to the back and forth in time of some of the scenes, but I understand why it was necessary. The switch in points of view as well as moving back and forth in time helped augment the feeling that you couldn't believe everything that was happening. Jane is being manipulated the whole time, tested, and maneuvered into making the choice the alien Ei'Brai wants her to make. He even goes so far as to give Jane the sexual encounter she'd been dreaming of having with Bergen as, wait for it, a very realistic dream. It boils down to mental rape in a way. In the end, things have worked themselves out. Sort of. Jane is now captain of the ship, several of her team look like they might stay with her for the next journey, and Bergen is just as determined to make a relationship work with her.

It was a good book. I think the things that bothered me were simply because this reminded me of another book where the captain has to "link" with the ship in order for it to work. That book however didn't use language or sex to move the plot along--and I loved that.

I give Fluency a 3.75 and an R rating for use of the F word and some the one scene.

1-5 scale and what it means:
1: I couldn’t even finish it / just plain bad
2: I hope I didn’t pay for this / disappointing
3: I didn’t hate it, but it was still missing something / forgettable but inoffensive
3.5: On the line between good and ok / like, not love
4: Solid mind candy / worth reading
4.5: So very close to perfection! / must read
5: I could not put it down and I’m still thinking about it! / a true treasure

Movie Ratings in relation to my review:
Clean--Hallmark movies, some kissing, no nudity, no sex on or off "screen"
PG--Some innuendo but nothing kids don't hear every day, sex is all closed door
PG-13--some language (swear words not related to sex), more talk about sex, heavy petting, removal of clothing on screen, but sex is closed door.
 R--swearing (F bomb), on “screen” sex, sometimes feels like the whole story is about the sex and not the relationship or some other plot, but not always
28 people found this helpful
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Ann F.
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating first contact story
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2018
Verified Purchase
There's a giant alien spaceship that appears to be stranded in the Solar System, and a small crew, including a linguist with an unusual ability to learn new languages among them. As she makes contact with the alien intelligence on the ship, she discovers disturbing information and situations as she tries to decide who she can trust and how she can save the intelligence, her crewmates, and, eventually, the future of Earth.

The author does a great job of layering complications, the kind one would expect in such a situation, but without loading too much on the reader at any one time. She also manages a solid balance of science and characterization, never sacrificing one for the other. There are some hand-waving elements, but not ridiculously so.

Overall recommended for hard and soft SF fans.
26 people found this helpful
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Robert C. Olson
VINE VOICE
5.0 out of 5 stars Space, the Final Frontier: This is the voyage of the Star Ship Speroancora!
Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2016
Verified Purchase
Space, the Final Frontier: This is the voyage of the Star Ship Speroancora!
Wow, Fluency (Volume 1 of the Confluence Series) what a terrific read by Jennifer Foehner Wells! I’m not a big reader of the Sci Fi genre but while perusing Amazon for my next couple of reads I luckily hit on Jennifer’s amazing novel. From the opening review line, “NASA discovered the alien ship lurking in the asteroid belt in the 1960s,” I was hooked: And Ms Wells did not let me down! A combination of Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, Fluency whetted my Sci Fi appetite and sated me with a wonderful journey into the possibilities of tomorrow.
Dr. Jane Holloway is a linguist recruited by Nasa to travel to what appears to be an abandoned alien Space Craft. Trouble is when the NASA crew arrives at the behemoth ship and dock, they realize the space craft is not abandoned although the crew is gone. Soon, Dr. Holloway makes intellectual contact with the ship’s Navigator, a being of massive intellect, who is all that is left of the original alien crew. From there the story deliciously takes off in a well written space suspense thriller that will kept the reader well entertained and intelligently engaged.
Character development was superb, complex and masterfully done. Ms. Wells weaves alien and human mind interaction in a beautifully poignant story of hope, fear and eventual acceptance.
No gratuitous violence, language or sex: But just enough of each to keep the story real and moving at a perfect clip.
Hearty recommend. I’m hooked and have already ordered Remanence (Volume 2 of the Confluence Series). This Sci Fi novel is no shoot-‘em-up bang-bang space western, but rather a well written, thoughtful, “what if” space mystery along the lines of astronaut Sally Ride Meets HAL from 2001 Space Odyssey. And like Star Trek, when the adventurous Dr. Holloway is queried as to why she decides to stay on the star ship humanly alone she simply said (to paraphrase the iconic Star Trek “To boldly go where no one has gone before”), “Who knows where it will take me?”
Well Done Ms. Foehner Wells, Well Done.
35 people found this helpful
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Sandra Knapp
5.0 out of 5 stars A great Sci-Fi story!!
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2018
Verified Purchase
This is the first book of a series, I believe a trilogy, and it was a complete story that stands alone just fine, but it does pique your interest to continue if you so wish.

I loved it!!! A small crew of scientists are sent from Nasa into space to dock with a ship they have discovered that seems stuck on an asteroid, or something like that. They choose a woman who has a unique talent with languages to be part of this very small crew, hoping she will quickly find a way to communicate with whoever might be manning this strange ship in space. Little did they know, but they could not have chosen a better candidate, and what happens next is more her story than anything else, but what a story it was!

There is so much going on, action, intrigue, "space monsters" and all manner of wonderful things to enjoy in the telling of this tale. I could hardly stand to put it down to get a good night's sleep.

If you like a good sci-fi outer space adventure, you will love this book! I highly recommend it!
22 people found this helpful
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PrimordialStar
1.0 out of 5 stars The writer had a good idea, but she fell through on presentation
Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2018
Verified Purchase
The writer had a good idea, but she fell through on presentation. She seemed to ignore all character development aside from the main character, who is elevated to a level of perfection that makes her hard to like and identify with. The one supporting character that gets attention is really only in sexual scenes, and it seems as if the main character needs him for nothing else. In short, it's as if this is a badly written story meant to play to one character's superheroness while excluding the readers. Many interesting ideas in the book are then pushed out and not expanded on, and anything space opera is sacrificed to feed the ego of the main character. It really is a terrible book.
12 people found this helpful
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steve c
1.0 out of 5 stars Space JUNK
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2018
Verified Purchase
What began as a fairly well written adventure descended into the depths of pornography. Don't bother with this one unless that's what you're into.
22 people found this helpful
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Roger1918
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read for scifi fans.
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2018
Verified Purchase
Just finished this book and all I can say is "Fantastic". Jennifer Foehner Wells did an outstanding crafting the story in such a way that readers want to come back for more. The book keeps me later that I usually do just to see what was going to happen to the characters. The story revolves around Dr. Jane Halloway, a university linguist, is unwillingly recruited by NASA to join a classified space mission to explore a spaceship hidden in an asteroid belt back in the 1960's. The spaceship is assumed to be abandoned, but you know what assumptions mean. Wells writes a fast moving, intriguing, and fascinating story of human relationships under extreme circumstances. Science fiction fans will love it.
,
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Core
5.0 out of 5 stars A new adventure, a new chance, new worlds
Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2016
Verified Purchase
You know, what's bad about coming across a Sci-Fi book series you really like? It's that time gap. That horrible horrid time gap.

More or less, this book follows the character named, Jane who is a language expert, and the team she is with at Nasa, and their first contact experience with an Alien race. Ironically she learns that the US government has had contact with Aliens already. But apparently it didn't go over so well. As in fearmongering and shooting and asking questions later. Which cost the Human race 70+ years of waiting. Good job.

Obviously context is important and if you check out the book you will get the nitty gritty.

Also there is a sexy scene in this book. And I've read a ton of "adult books" at least reading level right? and I have to say this author, my hats off to her for writing in the erotic scene she did. Top notch there! As a man, I was reading and I was like "Holy crap this is well done".. Color me impressed.

The pacing of this book, starts off slow, but after words, it really picks up, and the author does such a great job of changing scenes, and giving context of the ship. You see everything in the book, from medical technology to food storage, to hand to slug combat and she really does such a good job of "world building". The Author really shows just the right amount of content for whatever scene and doesn't burden you down with the details. She gives enough information to jump start your imagination, but she doesn't beat you in the head with it like (TFS Ingenuity: The Terran Fleet Command Saga) That author literally beats you to death with details.. boring details you don't need!

Space is complicated. Feed all the complication in slowly, without overwhelming the reader, that's the way to go. Pacing is important.

Now to make another comparison, if you've read the 'Undying mercenary series' by Larson, B. V. ..One thing I would note right off the bat is that fast pace. That author does not hum haul around in getting story done.. I binge read the series more or less.

SO the authors pacing with the context of 'The expanse series and The Undying Mercenary series'.. JFW's somewhere inbetween and its a good spot. I'd argue that the author really nails it.

TL:DR If you like 'The Expanse Series' by James SA Corey, 'The Undying Mercenary series' by Larson B. V. then chances are you will enjoy Jennifer Foehner wells book as well. Check it out!

I bought this book out of boredom/amazons recommendation and I'm glad I did. It was worth it.

Also Cover art is pretty good on both books. The space ships actually look like space ships.. but at the same time you look at the covers and unless you've read the books, you don't really get the scale. I think its important. In the first book, the space ship gets described as "City sized", it also gets mentioned a lot that its some sort of "Green color" that is easy on the eyes. Which on the first book you don't see this.
I'm big on concept art and illustrations so it always tears me up when I read a cool Scifi book, but the cover art is sub par. A lot of authors don't appreciate what a good concept artist/illustrator can do for them. (If their stories are good)
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Serenity Base
2.0 out of 5 stars Well written but psychologically flawed
Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2018
Verified Purchase
Chapter one. At last, I thought, recently written science fiction by an author who actually knows how to write. The writing is pretty good, not the amateur pre-pubescent unedited pablum one finds in most published novels these days. The author is obviously aware of the mechanics of a good story. There is a plot. There is a heroine. There are dastardly villains. There is a conspiracy involving dark government secrets, Area 51, and an enormous alien artifact. There is this giant alien squid creature who rapes the heroine and gains her implicit trust…

“…Uh, what?”, you say. God, this is perverse! No believable heroine would let that happen, especially not this strong, independent, thoroughly modern “feminist” heroine. Unfortunately the author seems to have “trust issues” she hasn’t managed to work through yet. The squid is helping her figure it out.

My suggestion would be that she dump the squid and spend serious time with a good therapist before she writes anything else.
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Daniel Bowen
3.0 out of 5 stars SF Female Lead, Alien Spaceship
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2020
Verified Purchase
Jane is at least in her 30's, a professor, talented, and has a natural affinity for languages. She's asked by NASA to join a space flight, the linguist in charge. An alien ship is stranded in their galaxy and the U.S. is finally at a point where they can explore it. Little did the team know what they signed up for.

The world building is flawless but the characters leave a lot to be desired. Was Walsh always this domineering jump to conclusions type leader? Is it right to belittle the skills of a team member? Jane knows she's low on the totem pole, and Walsh's attitude, the continued jokes, set the tone for the rest of the story. Jane comes across as always wanting to do the right thing, but easily influenced by her superiors. She toes the line. I wouldn't say meek but in this first book she's not a character to admire.

The story focuses on Jane, how she beats incredible odds, and with the help of her crew, fulfills their mission. At the end of this story, the representatives of NASA and probably the US were consulted, but jumping into the next book, it's not said why most of the crew make the decision they did. Their roles define them and that's about it. There aren't any conversations about where they're from, how they feel about things, or their thoughts. It's all straight forward, fulfilling their task and off to the next. I can't remember anything about the medical officer besides what she does to help patch someone up or consulted on her expertise. No idea what she looks like besides being capable. Varma I think it was. Somehow by book two she's in a relationship with Rob and even Jane didn't know. And the crew never treat Jane as a friend, as someone to chat with. Here we have space flight and wonderous discoveries and no one is jumping for joy or sharing with each other. No, they're these little drones blindly following Jane around. Or in this first book, following Walsh.

On top of all that the first book goes from calling each other by their last names to 'more personable' in the second book. No discussion as to why, it just happens. Berg to Alan, Gibbs to Rob. But Jane is just Jane.

The story is heavy on action and situations. The plot overshadows whatever human interaction is going on. Jane puts everything before exploring a relationship with Alan. If you're into science fiction, non stop adventures, life on the go where you never have a break, this one's for you. Oddly enough I own 'Fluency' but never read until now when I clicked on the combined box set available. - Dan's Wife
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