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sblackone's review
2.0
There could be a decent book somewhere in here, but there are way too many issues with it. The pacing is very uneven, with some sections being very fast paced and a lot of events being somewhat glossed over. Then there are sections that are told in extreme detail to the point where it becomes too much. There is one plot line that seems to be entirely a setup for the rest of the series. It's completely unconnected to the main story and just goes nowhere, while explaining nothing by itself.
The alien species is done pretty well and interesting, but I guess there is a bit of uncanny valley effect with the humans. Some of the human dialogue varies between completely unbelievable and atrocious. Especially among the scientists. With humans it's just easy to tell when something is off. These people are supposed to be in their 50s but especially during the completely unnecessary love scenes they come off as badly written teenagers.
The battle scenes are gripping enough, but nothing special. Just the typical genre stuff. Distances seem to be handled with little thought. Depending on the needs of the plot the solar system is either big enough to play hide and seek for weeks or the being able to be crossed in minutes.
Acronyms are handled terribly, with the full meaning always added in parentheses. There are a handful of sections where text is repeated verbatim. An editor would probably have caught this.
And of course the whole book ends of a cliffhanger that's not even done particularly well. Cliffhangers can be fine, but the book just ends in the middle with none of the plotlines being resolved.
It's a shame because the world building is interesting, the first contact situation was done relatively well, and there is still enough story there to hold your attention. But it really needs a lot more polishing.
The alien species is done pretty well and interesting, but I guess there is a bit of uncanny valley effect with the humans. Some of the human dialogue varies between completely unbelievable and atrocious. Especially among the scientists. With humans it's just easy to tell when something is off. These people are supposed to be in their 50s but especially during the completely unnecessary love scenes they come off as badly written teenagers.
The battle scenes are gripping enough, but nothing special. Just the typical genre stuff. Distances seem to be handled with little thought. Depending on the needs of the plot the solar system is either big enough to play hide and seek for weeks or the being able to be crossed in minutes.
Acronyms are handled terribly, with the full meaning always added in parentheses. There are a handful of sections where text is repeated verbatim. An editor would probably have caught this.
And of course the whole book ends of a cliffhanger that's not even done particularly well. Cliffhangers can be fine, but the book just ends in the middle with none of the plotlines being resolved.
It's a shame because the world building is interesting, the first contact situation was done relatively well, and there is still enough story there to hold your attention. But it really needs a lot more polishing.
capellan's review
3.0
I liked a lot about this book. The bulk of it is a fun first contact + Sf warfare page turner. But man, there are a couple of major structural issues.
Issue number 1 is that chapters 1, 2 and 26 are devoted to a storyline that has NO intersection with the rest of this book. Presumably it will in a later book, but why not hold these chapters over for that later volume?
The section is the ham-handed use of multiple cliffhangers at the end. Yes, I understand that you want me to buy book 2. You know how you do that? **Write a satisfying book one**. Books without proper endings are not generally satisfying.
If I do pick up book 2, it will be despite the cliffhangers, not because of them.
Issue number 1 is that chapters 1, 2 and 26 are devoted to a storyline that has NO intersection with the rest of this book. Presumably it will in a later book, but why not hold these chapters over for that later volume?
The section is the ham-handed use of multiple cliffhangers at the end. Yes, I understand that you want me to buy book 2. You know how you do that? **Write a satisfying book one**. Books without proper endings are not generally satisfying.
If I do pick up book 2, it will be despite the cliffhangers, not because of them.
cathepsut's review
Free give-away by the author, thank you very much! Review will follow.
brian's review
4.0
Spread around over different characters and places.
A 200 year old cyborg trooper is on a secret mission to bring down a group hoping to overthrow their government. Originally designed for the first war with the Merkiaari war, he has to keep his secret hidden from normal humans.
A first contact situation leads first to a cat and mouse hunt through space before the humans make themselves known to the new race.
One of the new race finds herself trying to get back to her family as the Merkiaari invade their planet.
A bit disjointed in places, it's better when it spends time focusing on one part of the story. A few spelling mistakes that should have been picked up, but overall an interesting read.
A 200 year old cyborg trooper is on a secret mission to bring down a group hoping to overthrow their government. Originally designed for the first war with the Merkiaari war, he has to keep his secret hidden from normal humans.
A first contact situation leads first to a cat and mouse hunt through space before the humans make themselves known to the new race.
One of the new race finds herself trying to get back to her family as the Merkiaari invade their planet.
A bit disjointed in places, it's better when it spends time focusing on one part of the story. A few spelling mistakes that should have been picked up, but overall an interesting read.
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