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A review by mostlywicked
Demons of the Void by David Adams
1.0
Some reviewers here pointed out a couple of unreasonable events in this poorly written mess of a book.
Specifically, how unlikely it is for Iran or Australia to emerge as global superpowers (China is at least plausible), and how unlikely it is for a carrier to pick up a "disabled enemy ship" and be rammed by it.
I also spotted both these glaring and puzzling mistakes on my read-through. OK, sure, if there was some huge political upheaval (like the book hints at) then maybe the world order was shuffled enough for powers other than the US and European countries to emerge as top dogs. But... Iran? Australia? Where are India, Brazil, Russia, Japan, Korea? Even if, for some reason, you absolutely MUST have those two as the superpowers, at least spend some time to justify and lampshade it, because it would require some SERIOUS changes in the world order that would have very big and lasting consequences on the entire population, none of which we see in this book.
The carrier thing is inexcusable, full stop. Unless the US navy, for some reason, suddenly became utter morons and threw out every instruction and doctrine manual they have into the ocean.
These kind of things are killers of suspension of disbelief. My own SoD was assassinated thoroughly during my reading of this book, and its body further mutilated by the latter events throughout it.
The technology: the Earth is portrayed as basically present day Earth. I believe it was mentioned the book takes place in the 2020's - which make the radical yet magically clean political changes look even more absurd in such a short amount of time - there is no way in hell or heaven human kind will develop Star Trek technology 5 years from now, I'm sorry. From fossil fuels to faster than light travel, energy shields and inertialess drives... in 5-10 years. Nope.
The characters: Obnoxious as hell, sex crazed for some reason, with *absurd* dialog. At one point a fighter pilot introduces himself in front of senior officers and his commanders, and immediately starts to brag about his sexual escapades. In front of a full audience that includes his commanding officers and basically *admirals*, that are just sitting and looking at him. During a military briefing.
Just... no. That's not how humans behave. The reaction to that is also not shock and dismay at this huge, HUGE social faux pas, but comparatively mild instead. Again, not realistic in the slightest.
Also that character is an Israeli, which, being an Israeli myself, personally offends me. There's a brief argument in that same briefing between him and an Iranian character about politics. The pro-Israeli side arguments sound like something from a child that has never talked to a real Israeli in his life. Again, personally offending to me. If you insist on talking about a sensitive real life political situation in your silly novel about space aliens, then at least do the decent thing and talk to Israelis and Iranians beforehand to learn about it and see how you can portray their disagreements in a respectful way.
The Aliens: There was such a build up for these aliens, and right before they are revealed to the reader, the characters react as if they've seen something really bizarre. Nope, turns out they're just bipedal cats. The Kzinti, Kilrathi, Khajit and dozens of other cat people in fiction send their regards.
In conclusion: The book is a mess, the setting, characters and events make me question the worth of self-publishing in general as they are beyond merely "amateurish" level of bad.
I will not read anything from this author, and to him I will suggest to either learn a LOT more about writing , or find a different hobby.
Specifically, how unlikely it is for Iran or Australia to emerge as global superpowers (China is at least plausible), and how unlikely it is for a carrier to pick up a "disabled enemy ship" and be rammed by it.
I also spotted both these glaring and puzzling mistakes on my read-through. OK, sure, if there was some huge political upheaval (like the book hints at) then maybe the world order was shuffled enough for powers other than the US and European countries to emerge as top dogs. But... Iran? Australia? Where are India, Brazil, Russia, Japan, Korea? Even if, for some reason, you absolutely MUST have those two as the superpowers, at least spend some time to justify and lampshade it, because it would require some SERIOUS changes in the world order that would have very big and lasting consequences on the entire population, none of which we see in this book.
The carrier thing is inexcusable, full stop. Unless the US navy, for some reason, suddenly became utter morons and threw out every instruction and doctrine manual they have into the ocean.
These kind of things are killers of suspension of disbelief. My own SoD was assassinated thoroughly during my reading of this book, and its body further mutilated by the latter events throughout it.
The technology: the Earth is portrayed as basically present day Earth. I believe it was mentioned the book takes place in the 2020's - which make the radical yet magically clean political changes look even more absurd in such a short amount of time - there is no way in hell or heaven human kind will develop Star Trek technology 5 years from now, I'm sorry. From fossil fuels to faster than light travel, energy shields and inertialess drives... in 5-10 years. Nope.
The characters: Obnoxious as hell, sex crazed for some reason, with *absurd* dialog. At one point a fighter pilot introduces himself in front of senior officers and his commanders, and immediately starts to brag about his sexual escapades. In front of a full audience that includes his commanding officers and basically *admirals*, that are just sitting and looking at him. During a military briefing.
Just... no. That's not how humans behave. The reaction to that is also not shock and dismay at this huge, HUGE social faux pas, but comparatively mild instead. Again, not realistic in the slightest.
Also that character is an Israeli, which, being an Israeli myself, personally offends me. There's a brief argument in that same briefing between him and an Iranian character about politics. The pro-Israeli side arguments sound like something from a child that has never talked to a real Israeli in his life. Again, personally offending to me. If you insist on talking about a sensitive real life political situation in your silly novel about space aliens, then at least do the decent thing and talk to Israelis and Iranians beforehand to learn about it and see how you can portray their disagreements in a respectful way.
The Aliens: There was such a build up for these aliens, and right before they are revealed to the reader, the characters react as if they've seen something really bizarre. Nope, turns out they're just bipedal cats. The Kzinti, Kilrathi, Khajit and dozens of other cat people in fiction send their regards.
In conclusion: The book is a mess, the setting, characters and events make me question the worth of self-publishing in general as they are beyond merely "amateurish" level of bad.
I will not read anything from this author, and to him I will suggest to either learn a LOT more about writing , or find a different hobby.