The description reminded me of A Memory Called Empire (read in 2019). That‘s where the similarities end though. This is not a complex or very inventive story.

”Twenty-five years ago the Vardeshi came to Earth. Then they vanished without a trace. Graduate student Avery Alcott always knew they would return. When they do, she’s the only one who can speak their language. She’s quickly recruited to join the crew of an 11-man starship on a one-year mission into the depths of space. Avery leaps at the chance to leave behind everything she’s ever known.”

Avery is a fairly naive college student, who puts up a relatively good fight against the problems she faces during that mission. First there is the language difficulties, then there is her struggle with the cultural immersion and then the problems really start. Careful, we are pretty light on the culture. We are pretty light on everything. This is not hard SF, there is very little science in this fiction. It‘s an entertaining enough story, but hardcore SF readers will find it very wanting. The linguistics part is also not terribly deep. As a beach read this is nice.

I had some issues. Well, a lot, actually, considering the length of this paragraph…
Avery‘s teacher builds a language program based on a few transmission, which I find highly unlikely. I am not a linguistics expert though, so whatever.
The home planet of the Vardeshi can be reached with a Vardeshi ship in 6 months. No info about actual distance or what propulsion they are using, just that their ships are really fast.
There are all these beautiful humans and aliens with blonde hair and blue eyes. Ok, ok, there is also grey hair and grey eyes, but still… quite the fixation.
The aliens have blue blood. Why is their blood blue?
How do they generate gravity?
At one point Avery looses a lot of her provisions. In the next paragraph she cooks a lavish dinner. What? And why the heck does she have to use a camping stove?
The aliens use FTL travel (I assume, it‘s never mentioned), but don‘t have a set-up in their kitchen where a human could prepare food?
And isn‘t it kinda unusual on a ship to not have different duty watches? They all go to sleep at the same time and put the ship on autopilot or how does that work?
Ship‘s special interior decorations are mentioned once and then never again. A special sickness among the Vardeshi is explained and researched by Avery, but never makes a direct appearance in the book.
To top it all off, the book pretty much stops in the middle of the storyline. Good thing that the sequel is on Kindle Unlimited and that I currently have a subscription, otherwise I would have been very miffed. And if the next book stops in the middle of things again, I will not be happy.

If you want serious, atmospheric and believable SF, this is not it. If you are looking for a light, entertaining read with a spaceship and some pretty, fairy-like aliens, this could be it. You might have to suspend belief a few times. I am not quite sure how I talked myself into reading the sequel, I guess I need some closure to the story.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher or author through NetGalley ages ago. Sorry about the very late review. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.

One thing to know about me as I don't often buy books. I have so many older books on my shelf, I have many, many ARC's to catch up on from NetGalley and I use my Library (Libby) every day.

So when I tell you that at the 70% mark of this book, I went to my Amazon account and bought Book 2, you should know that is not a normal occurrence for me. And that's how special I found this story.

I love Sci-Fi books but sometimes they get too techy for me and the ideas go right over my head. I can even get lost often in Sci-Fi's so I always enjoy those reads that are less techy and more focused on the characters or the story arc.

Ascending is exactly that. It's a first contact theme where our main character earns her place on an alien spaceship to be immersed into their lifestyle and culture. She is to be there for a year while they travel back to the visitors home planet and back to Earth.

The author weaves a tale that left me feeling like I knew the characters personally, hoping for a happy ending and eager to see what happens next.

This lite Sci-Fi story was an easy 5 star read for me. And I loved her best friend on the ship! :)

For this story, 1993 was the first contact with an alien race. Avery is totally fascinated by them. I can get that, who wouldn't be, right? The Vardeshi have a super hard language and Avery has learned the hardest language on Earth to be ready to learn their language. Why? Well this gal is headed to their homeward. Wohooo! So it's all good, interesting, and going well and then... curve ball. Enter romance and some other things. I can't drop the plot but this book didn't feel finished and I can't understand the speed of the plot change. Past that, I have liked it rather well.

Thanks to NetGalley for my copy of this book. This review is my own, left freely. A positive review is never required.

I am finishing this book in two nights  faster than my expectations because this book is so interesting. I am not wrong in choosing this book to read after nearly 2 year hiatus. 

Well, on this book we meet Avery, a linguistic post grad student, fluent in Mandarin and could understand basic Vardeshi? Eh, what is Vardeshi? Vardeshi is an alien race, who visit Earth 25 years ago then left abruptly, but there is a message left that recoded by renown linguist, Mr. Sawyer. 

Mr. Sawyer then teach Avery the Vardeshi language with a belief that they will come back one day. And the day comes not long after Avery become somewhat fluent in Vardeshi. They come and proposed something like cultural exchange, and of course Avery is chosen to come aboard to outerspace voyage. 

The book is written with three big part for me. Part one is where Avery learn the language, part two is preparation to join Vardeshi ship, and part three is Avery during the travel. 

It has interesting plot twist, and although the pace is slowed in at least half of the book, but it is getting interesting in toward the end. I also like this new point of view on the science fiction, told from the eye of a linguist. Not from the engineer or those from science field. 

I would try to find the 2nd installment. 

Thank you for the arc, Netgalley and Publisher.

This was really let down by the romantic side of the story and would have been all the better without it.

It left me feeling confused.

The heroine was so determined in many respects but then was emotionally very immature.

Overall though the story was a good read.

What if you were the only person on a spaceship with an alien race? You were the person groomed to speak an alien language and take part in an intercultural exchange between planets? You would want to do it in the first place? If you did, how you feel about it? Excited? Optimistic? Groundbreaking? Or would you feel scared? Alone? Unsure what made you reach that kind of decision?

Those questions I just mentioned in the prior paragraph are the questions that Avery Alcott, the protagonist of Ascending by Meg Pechenick has to deal with in this excellent first-contact story. The last first contact story I’ve read was The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. Ascending has some similarities to The Sparrow in terms of linguistics and how does an individual assimilate into an alien culture. However, The Sparrow has a religious perspective (Catholicism) that Ascending does not. Both novels have done an excellent job of detailing the highs and lows of such an intercultural exchange.

The Vardeshi visited Earth and did not like what they saw from our planet. They vowed to never return. However, they came back twenty-five years later after their initial visit. This time, the Vardeshi agreed to accept an Earthling onto their ship to learn more about humankind. They chose Avery Alcott to be the sole representative from Earth for a year long mission to become a member on their ship headed into space.

Avery transitioned onto the Vardeshi spaceship well in the beginning but as the time passed, the conflicts and issues between cultures clashed. Pechenick does an excellent job with Avery showing realistic issues in this scenario. Also, she reveals Avery’s inner thoughts that go from eagerness to despair in a believable fashion.

I enjoyed reading Ascending and Avery Alcott was a compelling protagonist. However, I thought the reveal of a romance later in the novel did not set right with me. The hints were there earlier in the novel, but I did not feel convinced about the romance. It seemed out of place between those characters. That quibble should not stop readers from reading this excellent novel. I highly recommend Ascending and it continues my recent string of novels that have become my favorite reads of 2019.

I really enjoyed this story and look forward to others in the series. The storyline was interesting and the characters were like able. Very good science fiction adventure story about a human trying to live with an alien race.

Until the Babel Fish comes along, learning languages is the basis of first contact, and the spate of recent books and films focusing on learning about aliens through their language is welcome for those of use who study languages professionally or for fun.

The Vardeshi came to Earth and then left, leaving only a few cultural artifacts, including some tapes of their speech. One of the linguists who had these tapes secretly studied them and taught himself to speak. He then secretly teaches one grad student Avery Alcott, in hopes that within her lifetime, if not his, the Vardeshi will come back.

Well it would not be much of a story if they did not.

Avery is the best speaker on Earth and she is chosen to join a Vardeshi ship on their return journey. She is offered and accepts a brevet assignment as a cadet in the fleet, thinking that that would giver her the best opportunity to learn. But the conditions of the appointment are stringent, and, as it turns out, are applied too stringently. So here we have a complex story of a cadet in a military she does not understand and also crippled because she is operating in a language she does not fully know.

The crew are mixed friendly and helpful, and distant and cruel. Good story.

When is the next book out?!

An intriguing premise, a well defined alien world, a fish in a teacup of water...

Thoroughly enjoyed this one and can't wait for more.

I thoroughly enjoyed this first contact story. I thought the world building was excellent, and Pechenick really delves into all the angles of what travelling with another alien race would entail. The romance subplot came a little out of left field to me, but I loved Avery's friendship with Zey. Overall this was a really enjoyable sci-fi book, and I'm glad that there's at least one sequel already.

DNF 45%

I'm sorry, I tried but I just couldn't continue with this book. I contemplated dnfing this after the first chapter, but I like to give books a decent chance and always try to read a good 50-100 pages. I kept telling myself it would all be okay once we got to space (yay! space!), so I plodded on thinking it couldn't be that much further. Alas, it took 80 pages to finally reach the launch to space and unfortunately it wasn't worth the wait and I didn't stay there long.

I just couldn't handle any more of our narrator, Avery. I found her arrogant, whiney and just so very dull. She was extremely irritating and made the most bizarre observations like, "My Mandarin-trained eye saw at a glace that no two designs were the same." Huh? I'm sure an 'untrained' eye would be equally as observant. Also, how hard is it to remember how to do a salute style greeting? Very apparently. The aliens also didn't do anything for me, they were too human-like for my taste.

I'm sorry this wasn't for me but I'm happy to see I am in the minority. I wish this series all the best of luck.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

Although it is very well written book.
The concept of someone spending years learning the language of Aliens In anticipation of their return to earth
I would recommend the book to people younger than myself. I do read why a books but this one just wasn’t for me. Thank you for providing the book to me. I did enjoy part of it.
I know my sons will very much enjoy it and I plan on passing it down to them. Perhaps their friends too. Many thanks again

Contact meets Mass Effect’s First Contact War meets Arrival meets Ender’s Game. Reading through this wholly original tale (at least in its particulars – the generic story is more of a trope of scifi), this reader absolutely got flashes of all of the above. And considering that I personally *love* all of the above, that was not unwelcome. Truly a strong tale of first sustained contact, exploration, and the difficulties in understanding and assimilating with a wholly alien world. Truly excellent work, and I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes. Very much recommended.

When an alien race returns after 25 years to earth, Avery is ready. She has spend her life learning the language, and now she is the only person fluent in it, granting her a place one one of the alien ships in an inter-racial student exchange.

This was great, 5 stars, no fights but social life between human and alien, interesting gadgets and such. I even forgive that the aliens are so similar to humans.
While there is limited action it is a great first contact story. Love it, wished Book 2 would be already available!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book.

<b>Wow.</b> This book was fantastic! I think part of the reason I enjoyed it so much was that it didn't require me to utterly suspend disbelief; this story is something that could plausibly happen (assuming that aliens wanted to contact us, of course!)

We get to know Avery, a linguistics prodigy, who is secretly learning an Vardeshi from one of few humans to interact with the aliens during their first visit. Due to these secret lessons, Avery is selected as a first ambassador to travel with the Vardeshi to their home planet, Vardesh Prime. I really enjoyed getting to know Avery and her crewmates, even if her personality drove me nuts sometimes (but to be honest, it's probably because I recognized so much of my self in her). Avery is a really great main character, who is decidedly average aside from her gift in linguistics. Watching her grow and evolve as she gets to know the Vardeshi crew was fascinating. The Vardeshi are fleshed out really well, with a rich culture that Pechenick clearly took her time to develop. The book only follows a portion of Avery's journey to Vardesh Prime, but the events that unfold are fascinating and horrific. I am really looking forward to more of this series!

In 1993, Earth made contact with aliens., the Vardeshi.

Skip up to the present, and for the first time in the very tenuous alliance, some carefully selected young people are being sent to the Vardeshi as diplomats and scientists, etc.

Avery is our first person narrator. She has been fascinated with the Vardeshi (who wouldn't be, they look kinda like elves without the ears, or bishonen, woo!) and, after four years of mastering Mandarin, is ready to tackle the Vardeshi language, which has even more tones, not to mention alien ways of thinking. Their tech is beyond current human limitations, and they seem to have eradicated wars and personal difficulties. What's not to admire?

She is the sole human on board a ship destined to take her to the Vardeshi home planet. On the ship, she's the lowest ranking person, which means doing all the grunt work--while cooking all her own food, as the scientists are being very careful about inadvertent bio hazards going both ways.

Anyone who has ever gone to another country after studying their language for a few years, and assuming fluency, will resonate with how well the author has depicted culture shock in all its way, from physical to emotional.

This book starts off somewhat slowly, but I found myself engaged with the voice. Avery is a language and history nerd, but she also loves serial dramas. (Which becomes important!) Gradually the pace quickens, then speeds up to a terrific finish.

I loved the worldbuilding, the attention to detail, the development of the characters. I also really love high tech aliens who love beauty. By the end I was so involved I went straight out and bought the second one, though I have a huge TBR pile and I'd promised myself No New Books Till The Pile Is Not Threatening To Bury Me.

Well, I broke the promise, and read half the night in the second book!

One of the best sci fi books i have read for a while, for me it was a real page turner. The book is a well rounded story and the ending leaves you happy that the book has been finished well but still leaves wanting to read more of the Vardeshi Saga series.

Twenty-five years ago, aliens visited Earth. They were remarkably human-looking and had learned to speak English before their visit. The Vardeshi spent a brief time meeting with diplomats outside the U.N. headquarters in New York and then left, with no more communication.

More than two decades later, Avery Alcott is a graduate student in California, and her linguistics professor plays her a recording of the Vardeshi language. He tells her he created a program to teach people the alien language, and he’s going to secretly allow her to use it to learn the very complex language. As it happens, a year later, the Vardeshi return, and an exchange program of sorts is set up between the aliens and residents of Earth. Avery, thanks to her knowledge of the language, not only gets a prime spot in the program, but she is invited to become a minor crew member on a spaceship traveling to the Vardeshi home planet.

Avery becomes the only human living and working among 10 aliens on a smallish spacecraft, with the expectation she will be in this position for a year. She is excited to have this incredible opportunity, and as much as she realizes ahead of time that she will no doubt experience culture shock and make mistakes of many kinds as she gets to know this new race, she still somehow doesn’t quite anticipate all that she will go through.

Ascending reads like a nonfiction account of a real woman’s experience going on an exchange program, immersing herself in a foreign culture that just so happens to be alien. It could very well seem a bit dry or slow to some readers, but I found it fascinating because the author makes it all seem so authentic. She fleshes out the Vardeshi culture and some of the language and approaches it with a scholar’s view. Throughout much of the book, there seems to be little conflict in the way one might expect from a space story except for the clashes of culture and personality that Avery, a human, faces in close quarters with aliens. But then it does lead to a stronger conflict and climax, with Avery then having to decide how she will proceed. Ascending is really a cool book but possibly more for cerebral readers who enjoy the concept, the world-building and well-crafted characters. It also has a sequel that’s just been published; I’ll be happy to read on to see where the story leads.

A thoroughly enjoyable read where Avery who is only the second human ever to have learnt the Vardeshi language finds herself launched across space on her way to a planet as humanities representative. I found her young and naive but this allowed the story to unfold that may not have occurred if say a more experienced military type person had been in her position. Overall an engaging read and am looking forward to reading the next instalment.