Wow! This book moves at a great pace, and rarely lets up.
This is a space adventure, a fast-moving action piece with little time to spend
on explanation of the setting. However, the author cleverly integrates plenty
of clues within the action so that the reader is able to envisage the world she
has created here. And it is a world of undesirables, military types, skilled
and able technicians, heroes and villains in many guises.
This is a story that gamers in particular will love. The
reader experiences the action as the story progresses. And those who love their
scifi films with plenty of combat will find this a very satisfying read.
It’s a page-turner, but it’s also a book with plenty of
twists and turns. Who can be trusted? Who is telling the truth? Who are the
real heroes, here? The characters - and those who know my reviews will be aware
this is of real concern to me - are well drawn. The danger of stereotyping has
been avoided by giving the people who populate this work individual quirks and
sometimes unusual motivations. The mix makes for an engaging and absorbing
story.
I read this under less than ideal circumstances, with many
breaks due to things over which I had no control. But I never lost the thread
and was always able to pick up where I left off. It would have been an even
better read in one sitting, but at 364 action-packed pages, this was never an
option for me.
If you like your space adventures full of hard men, and
women, with plenty of physical conflict and dark humour, and with an
undercurrent of subtly applied moral comment thrown in, you’ll enjoy this tale.
I did, and I heartily recommend it.
