Reviews

Rubicon by J.S. Dewes

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bosstweed's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book had a really interesting premise with the rezoning and mech mystery but I found it lacking in some aspects such as dialogue and the story unfortunately. There were avenues which seemed to be more promising yet missed as well as plot points that simply felt out of place or even forced. The dialogue was slightly clunky but overall it was a fun listen.

lyellboi's review

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

makiba's review

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.25

It felt very rushed.

There are great ideas here, and foundation of a decent Sci-Fi universe but none of them are flushed out enough, meaning it is hard to make any real connection to world, characters and the narrative.

It almost feels like this could have been two books:

The Dying World & Search for new home
Last 1/2 or 1/3 of this book

This would have also made more sense considering the ending of Rubicon now feels somewhat forced.

Content Warnings

jquellin's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

The ending was rude.

mary_soon_lee's review

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"Rubicon" appears to be the first volume in a military science-fiction series (no other books in the series yet published). I had greatly enjoyed Dewes's earlier two books, which may have set my expectations too high for this book. The key concept is powerful: soldiers are resurrected into fresh bodies time after time to keep fighting the war. Yet despite such a strong idea, I only mildly enjoyed the book. Note: many other readers have loved this, so take my reaction with a tablespoon of salt.

While I found the main character, Adriene, likable, I wasn't strongly engaged by the other human characters, nor caught up by the situation, dire though it often was. About thirty pages from the end of the book, I had no difficulty setting it down for over a day, which is not my usual reading pattern. On the plus side, I found both the non-human characters quite effective. And the concept remains strong.

Three out of five resurrected stars.

About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).