Review: Great New Sci-Fi Novel!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 15, 2011
The prologue didn't peak my interest at all (not even sure if I think it was necessary), but the first chapter sucked me right in. Isadora Daystar is an unusual choice for a protagonist -- she's a former soldier, a drug addict, a thief, and an assassin, who often prostitutes herself to alien species to make ends meet because she's not very good at killing her marks. Her whole existence is based around her addiction to a drug that she encountered during her military service, and it is an utterly pathetic existence at that.I loved the imagery of this futuristic universe, with rather unusual descriptions of Isadora's main world, Rho (a moon that never sees the light of a sun). Instead of focusing on the technology, Barrington highlights the changes in the social structure of the human race. (For example, religion is outlawed, and additional laws had to be enacted regarding sexual contact with other alien races.)  It shows incredible imagination on the part of Barrington. Between the various species, interplanetary travel, and new moral codes of the existing human race, I was enthralled by the plight of Isadora as she finds herself in big trouble after a deadly bacteria infection causes her to abandon ship en route to another planet.The flashbacks of Isadora provided background information on the character, as well as explaining how she ended up in her present situation, without slowing down the pace of the story. I thought the ending was wrapped up a little too neatly for my liking, especially considering the personal hell that Isadora was living in, but I am hoping the author might write a new sci-fi series centered on Isadora Daystar. I really enjoyed the complexity of Barrington's sci-fi societies and characters.This novel was an excellent story about struggling with inner demons and self-redemption, but instead of being set in a modern world, Barrington had the great idea to write the drama with a science fiction theme, which I think readers will appreciate immensely.