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thebetterstory's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was a pretty cute time paradox story about a ragtag group of smugglers in the midst of an alien war meeting up with a vessel from the future in which they saved everyone by negotiating peace.
I was hoping for a little more from it, once I realized and was delighted by what the premise was. Worldbuilding was thin on the ground; in over 400 pages we barely learn anything about the Felen, despite one being onboard the ship the entire time. They’re scary-looking, they have advanced tech, they communicate telepathically, and…I think that’s literally it, aside from a throwaway note that they don’t like straight lines and are fussed about the order people enter rooms. I was also hoping to see all of the Famous Five, brought together by the circumstances, develop into a team and get to know each other, but although they’re a colourful set of people, only a few of them actually get developed. Charyne and Kva-Sova are still mostly just convenient plot devices by the end. I did end up fond of Leeg and Jereth, especially their friendship. I just wish we got more from the rest of them.
The narrative is told through snapshots of everyone’s past and present, sometimes effectively, but it has the tendency to skip over the most emotionally resonant scenes, like the death of a loved one, discovering a dear friend is back from the dead, or the entirety of how they actually negotiate the peace treaty. It even manages to skip over one of the POV character’s deaths. Some of the emotional moments we do get are hampered by awkward dialogue and character interaction that rings false or exaggerated.
I had passable fun with it, and if the premise is intriguing you might enjoy seeing how they manage to pull together a way to complete the events of the past using only the resources of a single ship. I just wish there was more depth here.
(As a final note, while this is tagged with LGBTQ+ because two of the characters are bi, the only romance that gets on-page development is M/F. There’s no queer gender exploration at all, even with the aliens.)
I was hoping for a little more from it, once I realized and was delighted by what the premise was. Worldbuilding was thin on the ground; in over 400 pages we barely learn anything about the Felen, despite one being onboard the ship the entire time. They’re scary-looking, they have advanced tech, they communicate telepathically, and…I think that’s literally it, aside from a throwaway note that they don’t like straight lines and are fussed about the order people enter rooms. I was also hoping to see all of the Famous Five, brought together by the circumstances, develop into a team and get to know each other, but although they’re a colourful set of people, only a few of them actually get developed. Charyne and Kva-Sova are still mostly just convenient plot devices by the end. I did end up fond of Leeg and Jereth, especially their friendship. I just wish we got more from the rest of them.
The narrative is told through snapshots of everyone’s past and present, sometimes effectively, but it has the tendency to skip over the most emotionally resonant scenes, like the death of a loved one, discovering a dear friend is back from the dead, or the entirety of how they actually negotiate the peace treaty. It even manages to skip over one of the POV character’s deaths. Some of the emotional moments we do get are hampered by awkward dialogue and character interaction that rings false or exaggerated.
I had passable fun with it, and if the premise is intriguing you might enjoy seeing how they manage to pull together a way to complete the events of the past using only the resources of a single ship. I just wish there was more depth here.
(As a final note, while this is tagged with LGBTQ+ because two of the characters are bi, the only romance that gets on-page development is M/F. There’s no queer gender exploration at all, even with the aliens.)
Content Warnings
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, War, Murder, Death, Medical content, and Toxic friendship
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