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A review by jwillis81
Sol Arbiter by Jia Shen, J.N. Chaney
3.0
I was really into the premise of this book, and I've read several of the author's works before, so I was excited to dive in. At first, I thought it started off great. The reader is thrown right into the action, and given enough backstory to make it intriguing. All in all, the setup really worked and had me primed to enjoy one hell of a good sci-fi thriller.
Unfortunately, the middle part of the book really fell flat for me. I never really felt attached to the characters, and they just kind of drifted from one battle to the next. And aside from the sometimes-referenced ticking clock they were up against, there wasn't much rising action or increased stakes to differentiate one battle from the next.
One of the things that I really enjoy about this author is that he's prolific and he isn't afraid to try his hand at different kinds of stories. I think there was a lot of potential in this one, but it ended up as a bit of a missed opportunity. I appreciate the swing he took, though, and so I'll optimistically look forward to checking out more of his work in the future. I'm not sure I'll continue on in this series, necessarily, but he always seems to have something new and interesting up his sleeve.
Unfortunately, the middle part of the book really fell flat for me. I never really felt attached to the characters, and they just kind of drifted from one battle to the next. And aside from the sometimes-referenced ticking clock they were up against, there wasn't much rising action or increased stakes to differentiate one battle from the next.
One of the things that I really enjoy about this author is that he's prolific and he isn't afraid to try his hand at different kinds of stories. I think there was a lot of potential in this one, but it ended up as a bit of a missed opportunity. I appreciate the swing he took, though, and so I'll optimistically look forward to checking out more of his work in the future. I'm not sure I'll continue on in this series, necessarily, but he always seems to have something new and interesting up his sleeve.