Review: Fun read
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 20, 2013
In a nutshell this is a story where a guy is appointed captain to undertake a longshot voyage across rougue space territory and in the process he builds up a very eclectic crew. That's really the emphasis to understand - it's about exploring the crew's uniqueness and backstory via events that unfold.-While there's combat, this really isn't military sci-fi and hence there isn't any strategic depth to it. Not a good or bad thing, just not the focus.-The book wraps up a complete story. No cliffhangers. There is, however, plenty of opportunity for a sequel as the world is built and many plot threads could be continued.-The events do take place quickly, the story is a (very) quick read-Sometimes things are a bit stereotypical or require you to suspend belief-Oddly enough the captain doesn't get much character development but that's probably a good thing as he's pretty normal by comparison-Good copyediting for this type of book-Would have liked to have seen this book have a tighter focus. It teases at elements of trader, military, and harem/erotic yet doesn't address any to satisfying depthIt's not on the level of, say, "I won a spaceship" by Harrison Park, the "Frontiers Saga" Series by Ryk Brown, "Spineward Sectors" Series by Luke Sky Wachter, or "Quarter Share" by Nathan Lowell. However, it borrows a lot of the same concepts and attempts them to sufficent degree that I enjoyed the read.This is a fun story that takes elements from more famous stories in sci-fi and glues them together nicely. Just don't expect the next Asimov. This isn't on that level and doesn't try to be. It's a 99-cent book. It's solid and I'll certainly read the next one.Update 9/21/13: Seems like the author "borrowed" more than just the concepts in this book. The cover artwork for this book is an exact copy of that on "New Life on Xova" by Earl Underwood. The Underwood book was published before this one so I can only assume that was the original. Check it out:Austin Steele's New Life on Xova (An Austin Steele Space Adventure)Gave me deja vu when I stumbled across it.