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the_horror_maven's review
3.0
Achilles is a new young adult science fiction novel packed to the brim with adventure and fear. The story mimics American colonial history, but it is set in the future and taken to space. Greg Boose brings rich imagination to his writing while playing to traditional science fiction elements. Even though Achilles is directed towards the young adult audience, the novel can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.
Science fiction is one of those genres that often comes with heavy storylines and plots that are sometimes hard to keep straight. Achilles reflects this aspect of science fiction, but it compiles a story that oozes excitement and intrigue. Seasoned science fiction readers are sure to absorb Boose’s writing well, and they will find themselves lost in his beautifully imagined world. Achilles promises high action and diverse characters, which I always appreciate in literature.
However, the novel did have a few flaws. For one thing, the sentences were often long-winded and over described. The dialogue was not a big element to the story, so the writer tended to “tell” more than “show” the reader. Even though I enjoy description in novels, I found that some parts of the novel could become redundant. Boose’s cast of characters was also quite large, and it was hard to keep track of them throughout the novel. It was also clear to me that Boose purposefully cut the story short since this novel is the first in a series. I would have rather had a longer novel than a longer series, but I do understand what his intentions were.
Achilles is a thrilling young adult science fiction novel, and I enjoyed falling into the story. Fans of The 100 will surely enjoy this novel, and I think that it is a great book to get into the science fiction genre.
Science fiction is one of those genres that often comes with heavy storylines and plots that are sometimes hard to keep straight. Achilles reflects this aspect of science fiction, but it compiles a story that oozes excitement and intrigue. Seasoned science fiction readers are sure to absorb Boose’s writing well, and they will find themselves lost in his beautifully imagined world. Achilles promises high action and diverse characters, which I always appreciate in literature.
However, the novel did have a few flaws. For one thing, the sentences were often long-winded and over described. The dialogue was not a big element to the story, so the writer tended to “tell” more than “show” the reader. Even though I enjoy description in novels, I found that some parts of the novel could become redundant. Boose’s cast of characters was also quite large, and it was hard to keep track of them throughout the novel. It was also clear to me that Boose purposefully cut the story short since this novel is the first in a series. I would have rather had a longer novel than a longer series, but I do understand what his intentions were.
Achilles is a thrilling young adult science fiction novel, and I enjoyed falling into the story. Fans of The 100 will surely enjoy this novel, and I think that it is a great book to get into the science fiction genre.
sallashelves's review
2.0
Seven days after completing Achilles, I still can't decide if I liked it or not.
The world it's set in is something out of this world (forgive the pun), but the characters and some parts of the plot made it really confusing and weird sometimes.
Full review:
https://bookstoldmeso.blogspot.fi/2017/12/review-achilles-deep-sky-saga-1.html
The world it's set in is something out of this world (forgive the pun), but the characters and some parts of the plot made it really confusing and weird sometimes.
Full review:
https://bookstoldmeso.blogspot.fi/2017/12/review-achilles-deep-sky-saga-1.html
thepolybrary's review
3.0
~*Full review here on The Bent Bookworm!*~
2.5 stars...GoodReads, half stars would be great at ANY time!
I wanted to love this book. It sounded so cool, and like a break from the ton of fantasy/fairy tale type books I’ve been reading. Achilles was a book that, try as hard as I might, I just could not really get into. However, if you’re big on science fiction you might love it! It did remind me of the first season of LOST…which, I, ahem, also discontinued a couple of episodes into Season 2 because I simply couldn’t stand all the craziness and constantly losing people.
Me, pretty much the entire book.
Characters:
I’m very character oriented when I read books. Characters are more important to me than world-building or excitement factor. In Achilles, the characters feel very flat and many of them feel the same. I got so confused because I could NOT keep many of the supporting cast separate. Not helped by the fact that many of them weren’t even given names (referred to as “the hacker,” etc.) until several chapters after they appeared. Jonah, our MC, I thought was going to be likable but he turns out to have a bad case of navel-gazing and I just…cannot. I feel bad for him but I spent most of my time being annoyed at the way he was written. Also, he’s supposed to be this hard-ass kid that’s suffered abuse and came out still standing, yet his reactions to a lot of the things that happen are not how abuse victims and soldiers (he’s been in a military training facility for some time by the time the book starts) react. It makes the whole thing kind of unbelievable – really jolted me out of my suspension of disbelief, which is necessary for any kind of fantastical fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, steampunk, fill-in-the-blank). I really didn’t feel anything for the rest of the characters either, and I was a little – ok, a lot – put off by how some of them did unexplained 180-degree flips without any real reason. Very suspicious and never explained, so the conclusion I am left with is that the author just…didn’t notice? Ugh.
Oh, also – CAN WE PLEASE HAVE MALE AND FEMALE INTERACTIONS WHERE THE MALE IS NOT SUDDENLY OVERCOME WITH AN UNAVOIDABLE HARD-ON?? I swear, so many times, when a book is written from the male perspective, he’s so distracted by female characters physicality that he turns into an idiot and it gets really old. I refuse to believe that the male population of the world is run solely by hormones.
World-building:
I think this is where the author spent most of his time! The world of the moon Achilles is harsh and brutal and I actually felt grossed out by some of the descriptions of the creatures inhabiting it (hard to do…I’m an EMT and few things turn my stomach anymore). It seemed like something new was introduced in every chapter. Sometimes it was hard to keep up but it was definitely intriguing.
Feels:
I usually put this section first, but this time I am putting it last because…er. I really didn’t have any. This book failed at making me feel anything but relief it was over. I am not interested in finding out what happens next. It didn’t really end on a cliffhanger, though there are lots of things about Earth’s colonization of Thetis that are not explained and have very dark implications – the main points of the story were wrapped up and that’s all I cared about.
Thank you very much to Diversion Books for sending me the ARC (this in no way influenced my review)! I was delighted to read and review even if it turned out to not be my cup of tea.
Blog | Twitter | Bloglovin | Instagram | Google+
2.5 stars...GoodReads, half stars would be great at ANY time!
I wanted to love this book. It sounded so cool, and like a break from the ton of fantasy/fairy tale type books I’ve been reading. Achilles was a book that, try as hard as I might, I just could not really get into. However, if you’re big on science fiction you might love it! It did remind me of the first season of LOST…which, I, ahem, also discontinued a couple of episodes into Season 2 because I simply couldn’t stand all the craziness and constantly losing people.
Me, pretty much the entire book.
Characters:
I’m very character oriented when I read books. Characters are more important to me than world-building or excitement factor. In Achilles, the characters feel very flat and many of them feel the same. I got so confused because I could NOT keep many of the supporting cast separate. Not helped by the fact that many of them weren’t even given names (referred to as “the hacker,” etc.) until several chapters after they appeared. Jonah, our MC, I thought was going to be likable but he turns out to have a bad case of navel-gazing and I just…cannot. I feel bad for him but I spent most of my time being annoyed at the way he was written. Also, he’s supposed to be this hard-ass kid that’s suffered abuse and came out still standing, yet his reactions to a lot of the things that happen are not how abuse victims and soldiers (he’s been in a military training facility for some time by the time the book starts) react. It makes the whole thing kind of unbelievable – really jolted me out of my suspension of disbelief, which is necessary for any kind of fantastical fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, steampunk, fill-in-the-blank). I really didn’t feel anything for the rest of the characters either, and I was a little – ok, a lot – put off by how some of them did unexplained 180-degree flips without any real reason. Very suspicious and never explained, so the conclusion I am left with is that the author just…didn’t notice? Ugh.
Oh, also – CAN WE PLEASE HAVE MALE AND FEMALE INTERACTIONS WHERE THE MALE IS NOT SUDDENLY OVERCOME WITH AN UNAVOIDABLE HARD-ON?? I swear, so many times, when a book is written from the male perspective, he’s so distracted by female characters physicality that he turns into an idiot and it gets really old. I refuse to believe that the male population of the world is run solely by hormones.
World-building:
I think this is where the author spent most of his time! The world of the moon Achilles is harsh and brutal and I actually felt grossed out by some of the descriptions of the creatures inhabiting it (hard to do…I’m an EMT and few things turn my stomach anymore). It seemed like something new was introduced in every chapter. Sometimes it was hard to keep up but it was definitely intriguing.
Feels:
I usually put this section first, but this time I am putting it last because…er. I really didn’t have any. This book failed at making me feel anything but relief it was over. I am not interested in finding out what happens next. It didn’t really end on a cliffhanger, though there are lots of things about Earth’s colonization of Thetis that are not explained and have very dark implications – the main points of the story were wrapped up and that’s all I cared about.
Thank you very much to Diversion Books for sending me the ARC (this in no way influenced my review)! I was delighted to read and review even if it turned out to not be my cup of tea.
Blog | Twitter | Bloglovin | Instagram | Google+
ladymoneypenny's review
3.0
*I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review*
2.5 stars.
This story is an adrenaline rush from start to finish. It wastes no time in jumping into the action.
The only problem with it being so fast paced is I felt the character development was compromised.
I must admit, sci-fi/space novels aren't really my thing - so if you are a fan of high action sci-fi books then you should definitely give this one a try!
2.5 stars.
This story is an adrenaline rush from start to finish. It wastes no time in jumping into the action.
The only problem with it being so fast paced is I felt the character development was compromised.
I must admit, sci-fi/space novels aren't really my thing - so if you are a fan of high action sci-fi books then you should definitely give this one a try!
ashleynestlermsw's review
3.0
Achilles is a new young adult science fiction novel packed to the brim with adventure and fear. The story mimics American colonial history, but it is set in the future and taken to space. Greg Boose brings rich imagination to his writing while playing to traditional science fiction elements. Even though Achilles is directed towards the young adult audience, the novel can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.
Science fiction is one of those genres that often comes with heavy storylines and plots that are sometimes hard to keep straight. Achilles reflects this aspect of science fiction, but it compiles a story that oozes excitement and intrigue. Seasoned science fiction readers are sure to absorb Boose’s writing well, and they will find themselves lost in his beautifully imagined world. Achilles promises high action and diverse characters, which I always appreciate in literature.
However, the novel did have a few flaws. For one thing, the sentences were often long-winded and over described. The dialogue was not a big element to the story, so the writer tended to “tell” more than “show” the reader. Even though I enjoy description in novels, I found that some parts of the novel could become redundant. Boose’s cast of characters was also quite large, and it was hard to keep track of them throughout the novel. It was also clear to me that Boose purposefully cut the story short since this novel is the first in a series. I would have rather had a longer novel than a longer series, but I do understand what his intentions were.
Achilles is a thrilling young adult science fiction novel, and I enjoyed falling into the story. Fans of The 100 will surely enjoy this novel, and I think that it is a great book to get into the science fiction genre.
Science fiction is one of those genres that often comes with heavy storylines and plots that are sometimes hard to keep straight. Achilles reflects this aspect of science fiction, but it compiles a story that oozes excitement and intrigue. Seasoned science fiction readers are sure to absorb Boose’s writing well, and they will find themselves lost in his beautifully imagined world. Achilles promises high action and diverse characters, which I always appreciate in literature.
However, the novel did have a few flaws. For one thing, the sentences were often long-winded and over described. The dialogue was not a big element to the story, so the writer tended to “tell” more than “show” the reader. Even though I enjoy description in novels, I found that some parts of the novel could become redundant. Boose’s cast of characters was also quite large, and it was hard to keep track of them throughout the novel. It was also clear to me that Boose purposefully cut the story short since this novel is the first in a series. I would have rather had a longer novel than a longer series, but I do understand what his intentions were.
Achilles is a thrilling young adult science fiction novel, and I enjoyed falling into the story. Fans of The 100 will surely enjoy this novel, and I think that it is a great book to get into the science fiction genre.
landscapesofink's review
4.0
The beginning of this book was insane! Jumped right into the action, nice and gory XD It wasn't as hard-core sci-fi as I was led to believe, and I'm really grateful for that. The only down-side for me was how much concentration it needed, and as I did this on audiobook I got lost somewhere in the middle as I tend to get a little distracted and then was off for the whole end of the book. I tried picking it up but couldn't connect all of the threads and characters and stuff. I loved the whole idea of And then the introduction of The narrator did a really good job of acting out his crazy voice. So life-like. I'm really glad I requested this book and read it, it was amazing.
Spoiler
them journeying to another planet, only to get stranded on a moon!Spoiler
Tunic made me really uncomfortable.peachykeenreviews's review
3.0
Achilles is a new young adult science fiction novel packed to the brim with adventure and fear. The story mimics American colonial history, but it is set in the future and taken to space. Greg Boose brings rich imagination to his writing while playing to traditional science fiction elements. Even though Achilles is directed towards the young adult audience, the novel can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.
Science fiction is one of those genres that often comes with heavy storylines and plots that are sometimes hard to keep straight. Achilles reflects this aspect of science fiction, but it compiles a story that oozes excitement and intrigue. Seasoned science fiction readers are sure to absorb Boose’s writing well, and they will find themselves lost in his beautifully imagined world. Achilles promises high action and diverse characters, which I always appreciate in literature.
However, the novel did have a few flaws. For one thing, the sentences were often long-winded and over described. The dialogue was not a big element to the story, so the writer tended to “tell” more than “show” the reader. Even though I enjoy description in novels, I found that some parts of the novel could become redundant. Boose’s cast of characters was also quite large, and it was hard to keep track of them throughout the novel. It was also clear to me that Boose purposefully cut the story short since this novel is the first in a series. I would have rather had a longer novel than a longer series, but I do understand what his intentions were.
Achilles is a thrilling young adult science fiction novel, and I enjoyed falling into the story. Fans of The 100 will surely enjoy this novel, and I think that it is a great book to get into the science fiction genre.
Science fiction is one of those genres that often comes with heavy storylines and plots that are sometimes hard to keep straight. Achilles reflects this aspect of science fiction, but it compiles a story that oozes excitement and intrigue. Seasoned science fiction readers are sure to absorb Boose’s writing well, and they will find themselves lost in his beautifully imagined world. Achilles promises high action and diverse characters, which I always appreciate in literature.
However, the novel did have a few flaws. For one thing, the sentences were often long-winded and over described. The dialogue was not a big element to the story, so the writer tended to “tell” more than “show” the reader. Even though I enjoy description in novels, I found that some parts of the novel could become redundant. Boose’s cast of characters was also quite large, and it was hard to keep track of them throughout the novel. It was also clear to me that Boose purposefully cut the story short since this novel is the first in a series. I would have rather had a longer novel than a longer series, but I do understand what his intentions were.
Achilles is a thrilling young adult science fiction novel, and I enjoyed falling into the story. Fans of The 100 will surely enjoy this novel, and I think that it is a great book to get into the science fiction genre.
utopiastateofmind's review against another edition
3.0
this is like a 3,5 because it had some great characters, even if they were a little type cast, but above all it has all the suspense and mystery of a gripping thriller. if you love the 100 and lost, in a ya SF book, this is for you.
disclaimer: I received this book in exchange for an honest review
disclaimer: I received this book in exchange for an honest review
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