Review: Fun read; left me wanting a sequel
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 27, 2012
"Lacuna: Demons of the Void" was a quick, fun read and left me wanting a sequel. (Actually, I see from browsing David's other offerings on Kindle that he's obliged us with a sequel. Where are my 1-click settings?)I was one of the original "Star Trek" fans back in the 1960s and this novel just has to appeal to any good "Trekkie" out there, even those of us who never got into the whole "Star Trek" cultural thing. The novel offers a nicely paced "space opera" with some interesting twists and pretty decent characterization.Although it was a bit of bruising blow to my "America-centric" view of the future, I found Mr. Adams' premise of America's almost total absence as a world power by the year 2029 both fascinating and, well, a little bit hard to believe. But, hey, as the story unfolded I found his Chinese/Australian/Iranian triumvirate credible. I am a bit less of a curmudgeon about that as I realize Mr. Adams is a native Australian, so let him have his fun with it.I agree with several reviewers that the characters throughout lack depth, but it is a first novel and, especially with sequels, later works undoubtedly will see more depth of characterization. The primary character, a very strong female lead (I say that as a GOOD thing) and a Chinese naval officer, Captain Melissa Liao, is nicely developed. I know nothing about real-life naval officers and even less about Chinese naval officers, but I felt she was very engaging and she pulled off her role as protagonist quite well in my thinking.I say for any who would cast stones against the novel, they should set down and write/Kindle publish a full novel of their own before throwing too many rocks. And the rest of us will load up our Kindles and enjoy some more of David Adams' interesting tales of SF/future adventures. I for one am eager to find out how we Earthlings defeat these "Demons." We do win in the end, don't we David? Please?Oh, well, yes, there is one other question that's dogging me about the novel: Where or what is the "Lacuna" referenced in the title? Did I miss something?I'm giving the book 4/5 stars because I thoroughly enjoyed the pace, many of the "Star Trek-like" images, and especially the crisply moving battle scenes and tightly plotted "cliff hanger" suspense in the final chapters. When/if I get a first novel written, I hope I can do as well.