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A review by noranne
Revelations by Paul Antony Jones
2.0
Hm. Well.
This book was surprisingly boring, given that quite a lot happens and it was a quick (<3 hr) read. But the stakes feel low. I mean, at this point, humanity has already bit it, and the author does not do a good job of making the main characters feel in danger. Barely fleshed out side characters seem to exist for the sole purpose of dying as if that will add tension. It does not.
There is a romance subplot in this book that stinks. A lot.
The book is mostly set in Point Loma, which was neat for me. I was at the sub base they were on only hours before I read the book! I think that helped me connect with the book a lot more than I would have otherwise. Descriptions of Coronado Island and the San Diego skyline as seen from Point Loma are a lot more poignant—and a lot easier to contrast—when you can pretty much see it out of your window.
As for the resolution of the trilogy as a whole, I thought it was decent. Not the most original ever, but sufficiently plausible and for me helped balance the whole "Emily senses malevolence from the alien trees" bits. At the end the author had a note that he had originally planned for 3 books but now feels he wants to write more. I do not feel that is at all necessary. The series tied up pretty neatly and further adventures would seem tacked on. Try a new world/universe/scenario! Plus Emily is kind of annoying. I liked her okay in the first book but she was really getting on my nerves at the end. Rhiannon to my knowledge served no purpose to this story whatsoever.
Anyway I feel like I am being kind of harsh (and long winded) about this book. I think it just had a lot more potential and so it was disappointing to not see it executed very well. Still, I got these on a Kindle deal for 1.99 and they entertained me enough that I think I got my money's worth.
This book was surprisingly boring, given that quite a lot happens and it was a quick (<3 hr) read. But the stakes feel low. I mean, at this point, humanity has already bit it, and the author does not do a good job of making the main characters feel in danger. Barely fleshed out side characters seem to exist for the sole purpose of dying as if that will add tension. It does not.
There is a romance subplot in this book that stinks. A lot.
Spoiler
Emily does NOT ONCE think of her recently dead boyfriend from the first book when contemplating her new crush. I understand moving on and all, and it was understandable in the second book when she had a lot of other things on her plate, but here she spends a fair bit of time thinking about romance without one single time thinking about the last person she loved who died a bloody and gruesome death in front her eyes.The book is mostly set in Point Loma, which was neat for me. I was at the sub base they were on only hours before I read the book! I think that helped me connect with the book a lot more than I would have otherwise. Descriptions of Coronado Island and the San Diego skyline as seen from Point Loma are a lot more poignant—and a lot easier to contrast—when you can pretty much see it out of your window.
As for the resolution of the trilogy as a whole, I thought it was decent. Not the most original ever, but sufficiently plausible and for me helped balance the whole "Emily senses malevolence from the alien trees" bits. At the end the author had a note that he had originally planned for 3 books but now feels he wants to write more. I do not feel that is at all necessary. The series tied up pretty neatly and further adventures would seem tacked on. Try a new world/universe/scenario! Plus Emily is kind of annoying. I liked her okay in the first book but she was really getting on my nerves at the end. Rhiannon to my knowledge served no purpose to this story whatsoever.
Spoiler
I liked the hint at the end that Emily now has a bit of alien in her and is creating a new race of people. I hated the fact that they are populating the world from submarines. It was bothering me the entire book. Where the hell are they going to get women from?! At least in the US, no women served on submarines until the past couple years, and now there are 2 at most on SOME. I don't know about the other countries' submarines, but it seems likely that they are going to have a very severe population imbalance with maybe 1 women for every 10 men.Anyway I feel like I am being kind of harsh (and long winded) about this book. I think it just had a lot more potential and so it was disappointing to not see it executed very well. Still, I got these on a Kindle deal for 1.99 and they entertained me enough that I think I got my money's worth.