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jacalata's review
2.0
Some fun light space adventure that never quite managed to get me invested in or surprised by the story. Some very interesting world-building ideas, but they aren't really important to the plot.
milesenglish's review
5.0
I liked it. I like the setting, it's the future, but there are plausible reasons for why AI doesn't just do everything for everyone. Space is a wild frontier, and travel between stars is always unpredictable. I liked the characters, especially Marcus and Annie. I mean, just say the words "space cowboys" and I'm in, no further explanation needed.
That said, this book kind of wanders, and takes forever to get to the point, and fails to build up the tension that it needs for the climax. Despite hearing the mission in the first chapter (we need to go to Zanzibar and rescue Captain Blackwood's brother) it takes about two thirds of the book to even get to Zanzibar. The adventures on the way were cool enough, but the crew was constantly complaining about how long this is all taking, and when are we going to get to Zanzibar already. I couldn't help but agree.
Kupari wrote a prequel to this, a short story called Ember of the Past. I liked that a lot more, for what's that worth. All in all, it's a promising debut, and I'll probably pick up the sequel.
That said, this book kind of wanders, and takes forever to get to the point, and fails to build up the tension that it needs for the climax. Despite hearing the mission in the first chapter (we need to go to Zanzibar and rescue Captain Blackwood's brother) it takes about two thirds of the book to even get to Zanzibar. The adventures on the way were cool enough, but the crew was constantly complaining about how long this is all taking, and when are we going to get to Zanzibar already. I couldn't help but agree.
Kupari wrote a prequel to this, a short story called Ember of the Past. I liked that a lot more, for what's that worth. All in all, it's a promising debut, and I'll probably pick up the sequel.
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