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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
A succinct way of describing this book is it's like a Star Trek episode with more character development. It was a light read, with some techno-babble but overall very easy to digest. I'd only hoped the author would've delved deeper into the world: its descriptions, its people, its culture.
I'm glad to say this book has captivated me enough to continue on with the second installment.
I'm glad to say this book has captivated me enough to continue on with the second installment.
Entanglement is the first book in The Belt trilogy, written by Gerald M. Kilby. It is a space opera about a science ship captain named Scott McNabb, and his crew of 4, and their experiences following a lucky run in with a derelict space ship carrying a piece of cutting edge quantum technology. Unfortunately, everyone in the solar system appear to want this piece of technology, and McNabb and his crew are in for a hard time trying to evade getting killed, while still ensuring that the device doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.
The book was okay written, with a fine story that was overall quite coherent. A good mix of action and non-action, which made the story presented with a good flow to it. A relatively short story but well contained, and it ended with a fine setup for the sequel. Dialogs were okay, but not too profound. I did find a bit lack of descriptive prose, to really create a setting and set the mood for the reader. Some parts were greatly described, others lacking.
The author did have a tendency to do info dumps, with sections of way too much show and not tell, which I could have been without. There were also a parts where there were too much technobabble, and meta science explanations, while most other parts were pure space opera. Either stick to science fiction and skip the long science-y explanations, or make a hardcore science story where everything more or less stands up to the real world. This book is a good (Bad!) example of how plot McGuffins can be used by adding ‘quantum’ to it, similar to how “mutation” was the carrier of science fiction books 20 years ago. You give a pseudo science explanation of how a thing works, slaps “QUANTUM” on to it, and call it a day.
Unfortunately, while the story was fine as such, it was also very superficial and generic. There’s the slightest hints of political intrigue and developments of technofobia, along with information on a previous nuclear war that changed the political spectrum, yet this is always just used to set an undertone and is never developed at all, which is a real pity. I felt like the story was really just scratching the surface of a potential much deeper and complex story, which I really would have liked to see. Our main protagonist is the cliché space captain that doesn’t believe in himself, with a cliché crew of misfits that just randomly happens to run into a MacGuffin that sets thing underway. If it had actually set things up for a deeper and complex story it would have been fine, but when the books just develops to be “Bring McGuffin to good guys, fight bad guy, the end”, then I would have liked quite a bit more.
The same lack of depth was also felt for the characters, as they were quite undeveloped and without almost any background. The main character is unsure of himself, is just there to earn money because of an implausible backstory, and has no skills whatsoever (At least, we’re never told). One of the other characters is even mentioned early as never saying anything, and that turned out to be true, because I can’t remember the character doing anything at all in the book! I assume she was just there because her role is needed in book 3 of The Belt trilogy (Where she is also speaking all the time, which of course is completely contradictory to what we are told in this book). Our main protagonist of course also, completely out of nowhere, falls madly in love with another member of the crew. I guess this was another setup for the sequel where it is needed, but to me it felt extremely forced and I actually laughed out loud when it happened because there was no setup. The sequel also tells us that they actually didn’t like each other before the story in the book, so why they are now suddenly madly in love makes it even more strange. And then we have the death of yet another crew member, and out of nowhere this character is suddenly and old and trusted friend of the protagonist, and he mourns a lot due to the loss. Overall the book comes of as missing a lot of backstory and depth, and since it was so short to begin with, I really felt that it could easily have added some additional background to flesh out things.
The spaceship is an old trashy one, but for some reason it has a state of the art artificial intelligence, and sent to the middle of nowhere to do a simple science survey, which I found hard to believe. That being said, I liked the inclusion of this artificial intelligence, as it added a bit of complexity into the crew of the space ship.
The ending climax was also over way too fast. I had expected a good build up to a fight with the bad guys, but well… That was over quickly.
I listened to the audiobook version, and the book was narrated by Steven Jay Cohen. In general he did a fine job (as usual, I must point out!), although I did find his voice quite flat for this reading, which made it somewhat uninteresting and forgettable. He was quite good at doing different voices though, which was nice.
Overall this was an okay science fiction adventure, and fortunately not too long, given my many points of critique. If you want something relatively short and easy to follow, this may be a good pick. But if you are looking for something with a deep plot, a complex setting, and interesting characters, you need to look elsewhere.
I received this audiobook for free in return for a review. I have no affiliation with the author, the narrator, the publisher, or their pets (Although I am sure the latter are quite nice!).
The book was okay written, with a fine story that was overall quite coherent. A good mix of action and non-action, which made the story presented with a good flow to it. A relatively short story but well contained, and it ended with a fine setup for the sequel. Dialogs were okay, but not too profound. I did find a bit lack of descriptive prose, to really create a setting and set the mood for the reader. Some parts were greatly described, others lacking.
The author did have a tendency to do info dumps, with sections of way too much show and not tell, which I could have been without. There were also a parts where there were too much technobabble, and meta science explanations, while most other parts were pure space opera. Either stick to science fiction and skip the long science-y explanations, or make a hardcore science story where everything more or less stands up to the real world. This book is a good (Bad!) example of how plot McGuffins can be used by adding ‘quantum’ to it, similar to how “mutation” was the carrier of science fiction books 20 years ago. You give a pseudo science explanation of how a thing works, slaps “QUANTUM” on to it, and call it a day.
Unfortunately, while the story was fine as such, it was also very superficial and generic. There’s the slightest hints of political intrigue and developments of technofobia, along with information on a previous nuclear war that changed the political spectrum, yet this is always just used to set an undertone and is never developed at all, which is a real pity. I felt like the story was really just scratching the surface of a potential much deeper and complex story, which I really would have liked to see. Our main protagonist is the cliché space captain that doesn’t believe in himself, with a cliché crew of misfits that just randomly happens to run into a MacGuffin that sets thing underway. If it had actually set things up for a deeper and complex story it would have been fine, but when the books just develops to be “Bring McGuffin to good guys, fight bad guy, the end”, then I would have liked quite a bit more.
The same lack of depth was also felt for the characters, as they were quite undeveloped and without almost any background. The main character is unsure of himself, is just there to earn money because of an implausible backstory, and has no skills whatsoever (At least, we’re never told). One of the other characters is even mentioned early as never saying anything, and that turned out to be true, because I can’t remember the character doing anything at all in the book! I assume she was just there because her role is needed in book 3 of The Belt trilogy (Where she is also speaking all the time, which of course is completely contradictory to what we are told in this book). Our main protagonist of course also, completely out of nowhere, falls madly in love with another member of the crew. I guess this was another setup for the sequel where it is needed, but to me it felt extremely forced and I actually laughed out loud when it happened because there was no setup. The sequel also tells us that they actually didn’t like each other before the story in the book, so why they are now suddenly madly in love makes it even more strange. And then we have the death of yet another crew member, and out of nowhere this character is suddenly and old and trusted friend of the protagonist, and he mourns a lot due to the loss. Overall the book comes of as missing a lot of backstory and depth, and since it was so short to begin with, I really felt that it could easily have added some additional background to flesh out things.
The spaceship is an old trashy one, but for some reason it has a state of the art artificial intelligence, and sent to the middle of nowhere to do a simple science survey, which I found hard to believe. That being said, I liked the inclusion of this artificial intelligence, as it added a bit of complexity into the crew of the space ship.
The ending climax was also over way too fast. I had expected a good build up to a fight with the bad guys, but well… That was over quickly.
I listened to the audiobook version, and the book was narrated by Steven Jay Cohen. In general he did a fine job (as usual, I must point out!), although I did find his voice quite flat for this reading, which made it somewhat uninteresting and forgettable. He was quite good at doing different voices though, which was nice.
Overall this was an okay science fiction adventure, and fortunately not too long, given my many points of critique. If you want something relatively short and easy to follow, this may be a good pick. But if you are looking for something with a deep plot, a complex setting, and interesting characters, you need to look elsewhere.
I received this audiobook for free in return for a review. I have no affiliation with the author, the narrator, the publisher, or their pets (Although I am sure the latter are quite nice!).
A bit of a trudge to get through this first book. Heavy on plot and with non memorable characters, it’s acceptable science fiction. I’m going to continue the series.
A fun read...
I enjoyed the read as a light and fun read. There were no great twists and there were many well-used SF tropes but it was still decent. The human characters were a little flat but I liked the development of the QIs.
I enjoyed the read as a light and fun read. There were no great twists and there were many well-used SF tropes but it was still decent. The human characters were a little flat but I liked the development of the QIs.
Solid space adventure, readable as a one off or if you enjoyed it there are more tales to read.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Review originally published at: http://www.lomeraniel.com/audiobookreviews/book-review-entanglement-the-belt-1-by-gerald-m-kilby/
The crew of the Hermes has a change of luck when they find a derelict vessel with a valuable and mysterious cargo. Scott McNabb and his four companions are instructed to take this cargo to a specific location but more parties are interested and will fight and even kill for it. The story is set in a distant future in which humanity has conquered the Solar System and AI's are a part of people's daily lives.
This space opera has been quite refreshing. It is an action-packed quest with a couple of twists and surprises along the way. I like when characters in a book are more than what they seem at first, and this is the case of captain McNabb. The rest of the characters are not so developed, but they play important roles in the story. There is also the AI of the ship, or more specifically, Quantum Intelligence, a special and evolved kind of AI.
It was a very entertaining story with some original elements that made it unique. I am curious about what they will find in Europa, and how the characters and story will evolve. I'm definitely listening to the rest of the series.
Steven Jay Cohen brought the characters to life with masterful interpretations. I always enjoy Cohen's narrations, because he knows how to transmit the characters' feelings, making them matter, and trapping me in the story.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The crew of the Hermes has a change of luck when they find a derelict vessel with a valuable and mysterious cargo. Scott McNabb and his four companions are instructed to take this cargo to a specific location but more parties are interested and will fight and even kill for it. The story is set in a distant future in which humanity has conquered the Solar System and AI's are a part of people's daily lives.
This space opera has been quite refreshing. It is an action-packed quest with a couple of twists and surprises along the way. I like when characters in a book are more than what they seem at first, and this is the case of captain McNabb. The rest of the characters are not so developed, but they play important roles in the story. There is also the AI of the ship, or more specifically, Quantum Intelligence, a special and evolved kind of AI.
It was a very entertaining story with some original elements that made it unique. I am curious about what they will find in Europa, and how the characters and story will evolve. I'm definitely listening to the rest of the series.
Steven Jay Cohen brought the characters to life with masterful interpretations. I always enjoy Cohen's narrations, because he knows how to transmit the characters' feelings, making them matter, and trapping me in the story.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes