Review: Great concept, but needs more polish and refining
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 2, 2013
The story is set in a somber and tenuous future where mankind is just barely surviving. Our salvation is tied to our past and centers around the success of the two main characters, Michael and Jamie.The cover had me hoping this novel harkened back to earlier SciFi works and it did remind me of John Varley's "Gaean Trilogy" with a little of "Lifeship " by Gordon Dickson. The setup for the plot arcs was well executed and the characters were likeable and well placed.The novel is rough and needs quite a bit of polish. The author jokes that the grammar and punctuation errors are free, but they are numerous and very distracting. No book is perfect, but the author should have put it through the editing grinder for one more thorough scrubbing.The authors drove the "Big Reveals" in a style that seemed forced and turned me off when he attempted to tell the me that I should be amazed at what the characters are seeing or doing. He has the characters in the right place and the right environment, but there is a lack of description, depth and immersion that left me with a narrow field of view.The author set the stage for elaborate interactions and various worlds within, but the storyline's progression and character "trials" hinged on some plot mechanisms that were thin and could have been better thought out. There were lost opportunities to highlight and play on the cultural differences (Language, social order, etc) and integrate them smoothly into the story.The novel is relatively short in length and covers a wide arc of scenes. After laying such a great piece of groundwork, I read to the end hoping the story would continue to rise to a climactic conclusion, but I think this one needs a little more time with the chef.