Review: Good, but not a cliff-hangar
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 14, 2013
The good:-Really well written and the plot was thoughtfully developed.-Scenes are vivid and detailed.-Well researched in the geology and general science. It's pretty clear that the author has a background in the sciences (I looked at his Amazon page and he has a degree in chemistry), which is so refreshing after reading sci-fi after sci-fi with terrible science.-Chapters 1-5 is such a cool story, just by itself.Why I took off 2 stars:-Wooden characters. I didn't really get any strong personality traits from them, although this type of book moves forward mostly on plot (unraveling the mystery of the Zatens and colonizing Zeta nine) and not characters, and I totally understand that.-Going along with the last bullet point, I feel that this was a plot driven book. However, I wished the pace was a bit faster. That being said, that's just my personal preference and in some ways, the pace of the book fit the plot in a complimentary way. It actually reminded me of Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island, in some ways, which is a pretty fine compliment if you ask me. Just don't go into this book thinking its a fast-paced thriller - it's much more slow and thoughtful.-Stale dialogue. Much of the dialogue between the characters are things that, from the reader's perspective, both characters should already know. It seems like the author uses their dialogue to "data-dump" on the readers: I believe the author was trying to "show, not tell" here, but it makes the dialogue kind of unrealistic. This issue is mostly eliminated when the author introduces more characters.-Strangely, the female characters appear to be noticeably dumber than their male counterparts in several scenes, which was only a problem because it seemed out of character for them.-Some very minor typos, but this did not detract from the story in any way.Thoughts with a spoiler: I felt that the beginning of the book through the death of the Alphas (ending right when the Betas wake up and realize the Alphas failed, Ch. 5) was awesome! Reading that first sentence of Ch. 5 was really powerful and I felt would make a great ending (if the book were a short story, I suppose).-I give the first section (Ch. 1-5) of the book, as is, a 4-If the dialogue were cleaned up a bit it would easily merit 5 starsI feel that the first section (Ch. 1-5) of the book alone would be a gem among the short stories out there. It achieved what I always look for in a book: that moment where something both unexpected and momentous occurs. I had to put the book down and stare at nothing for a minute after reading the first sentence of chapter 5, it was just that cool and well done. An explanation for their death wasn't even unnecessary (in the short story format that I envisage).I recommend this book for anyone looking for a thoughtful read, and I recommend everyone at least read Ch. 1-5.