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jdhacker's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Another space opera from Busby, though presumably completed unrelated to most of his *other* mostly interconnected space operas. Its pulpy, mostly fast paced, though it does get bogged down in a few points, and has enough Heinlein-y, swinger-y, 70s sex and alien impregnation that a number of modern readers might be turned off (or turned on...).
I can't imagine this spread out over the three very small books it originally was, especially as these flow pretty seamlessly into one another, each picking up immediately where the previous story left off. Over the arc of the narrative we go from a near/alternate future where human's still lack any space travel beyond what we currently possess and no contact with aliens, through first contact via alien abduction, to alliances with multiple races, interbreeding (up to and including re-creating an elder/progenitor race that way) with aliens and settling a bunch of other worlds. All within about a decade! Like I said, fast paced and pulpy. You want some cool ray guns? You got 'em. You want lost civilizations? They're here. We get a little of the sort of questionable protagonists I found in Zelde M'Tana, but definitely more toned down than there.
I can't imagine this spread out over the three very small books it originally was, especially as these flow pretty seamlessly into one another, each picking up immediately where the previous story left off. Over the arc of the narrative we go from a near/alternate future where human's still lack any space travel beyond what we currently possess and no contact with aliens, through first contact via alien abduction, to alliances with multiple races, interbreeding (up to and including re-creating an elder/progenitor race that way) with aliens and settling a bunch of other worlds. All within about a decade! Like I said, fast paced and pulpy. You want some cool ray guns? You got 'em. You want lost civilizations? They're here. We get a little of the sort of questionable protagonists I found in Zelde M'Tana, but definitely more toned down than there.