Review: Slow start but good read -- 3.5 stars
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 24, 2012
I never know what to expect with a book I was able to download for free, but Astra: Synchronicity was better than I expected.  Other reviewers have recapped the story, so I won't, but I liked the plot, most of the main characters were fairly well developed, the action was enjoyable...once it got going, etc.  However, as much as I enjoyed the book, I really just have to give it 3.5 stars, because there were a few things that could use some work:1) It starts slowly, and I had difficuly getting into it,2) The story weakens once the aliens are introduced, because little more than a physical description of the aliens is given to us, interaction of humans with the aliens is pretty unrealistic, the aliens must speak English because no translators seemed to be required, and the humans' willingness to accept what the aliens say although there's little evidence that it's true makes no sense (really, humans accept the aliens' invitation and travel light years to visit their planet only to hear the aliens say they hadn't been entirely truthful, and -- surprise! -- they're moving in next door?), and3) The author consistently and incorrectly used "lied" instead of the correct verb "lay" throughout the book.  Granted this isn't a huge issue, but it occurred so frequently that I felt it detracted from the story.All in all, it's a book I'd recommend for readers who enjoy sci-fi, but I probably won't read the sequels unless I can also download them for free.