Review: Great Sci-Fi Action/Adventure Story
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 23, 2012
Disclaimer: I borrowed this book from the Kindle Lending Library. They only let you borrow one per month so I "saved up" a while to be able to read this offering from one of my favorite authors.I demand the following from both my favorite movies and my favorite books -- they must grab me and haul me into the story right from the beginning. They must have action, great characters, a compelling plot, and the inability to turn off the video or shut down the book/Kindle.On a scale of one to five, "Wings of Retribution" scored a four. As a female reader, I love novels that have interesting and well-developed characters. When it comes to sci-fi novels, the more unique and unusual, the better -- particularly if the author puts you into the individual's persona and lets you see events from his/her point of view, as is the case with this book. Again, as a female reader who loves sci-fi, I like some of the uber-tech stuff but I don't want to be buried in the details, ala your typical Tom Clancy novel. "Wings of Retribution" strikes just the right balance -- we experience the space battles with fairy-stick pilot Dallas "Fairy" York -- yet aren't bored to death with descriptions of how the ship drives work and what all the twinkly com console buttons do.On to the characters in the novel. Ah, Stuart. I love him. I would have his baby, egg, jelly, pseudopod -- or whatever passes for intimacy with his unique (and rather disgusting-at-first) species. King puts you into Stuart's psyche. You'll want to have his egg too. As for other characters: Athenais. She is the main character, a 7000-year-old space pirate. You will love her, you will hate her, you will wish you could slap her into the Orion nebula. Athenais' childhood playmate and friend is "Rabbit", a bar owner and probably the wealthiest guy in the galaxy. Then there is "Fairy" -- Dallas York -- a pilot educated in the space academy who is kicked out of the service. Too bad they made "that" decision. She's a ditzy bubble-headed young goof who nonetheless manages to grow both brains and a backbone in the course of the novel. Oh, and she wins Stuart's pseudopod in the process. Round this out with shape-shifters, the Utopia (who sound a lot like Orwell's 1984 Big Brother gang), a "potion" that enables people to live for millennia... and you have a nonstop adventure.I gave this novel four stars rather than five because I felt that at times the action jumped all over the place, and lacked cohesiveness. There were instances when things happened that were not explained, like escapes from bondage, and so on. All in all though, hard to put down, unique characters, and a bit of a troubling critique on our own species that was well-taken. If I hadn't been able to borrow this book for free, I would have gladly paid the price tag.