Review: Moves a little slow
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 23, 2011
CharactersKat is a very upbeat, practical person, with a very interesting view on journalism. A good deal about her is revealed over the course of the book, helping develop her character in ways the twelve hours the book takes place in wouldn't normally allow.Other characters do appear in the book, in fact, many of them, but none have enough 'screen time' to be categorized as a major character. Instead, we're given a large cast of mostly unique and interesting individuals that we meet briefly through Kat's interactions with them. Most people do feel reasonably different from the others, but the style of the book doesn't give much chance to develop them very far. Even so, none of the characters seem dull or uninteresting.PlotThe story follows Kat Auton as she does a twelve-hour marathon session covering the events leading up to the launch of a brand new, highly advanced spaceship called Friendship, which is to be the first vessel crewed by humans and aliens. Kat is an independant reporter who contracted with a smaller station for her show, and she's also one of Friendship's small and very heavily screened media team, giving her access to nearly all areas related to this event, something most journalists don't have. The story rolls along but at a fairly slow pace, moving through the day, building up the character and personality of Kat, and more importantly, the setting itself, through her conversations, both to the camera, and with the others she meets throughout the day, many of whom she interviews. An element of suspense is introduced about halfway through the book, hinting at more going on than is normal, or expected.Overall, the story itself is fairly decent, and the interactions are interesting. However, I feel that it moves a bit too slowly at times, as a little too much time is spent digressing into explanations of this or that, necessary for the world-building aspect of the story, but bogging down the story a bit. There's also a section right after Kat has an entourage of other journalists foisted on her where she ends up explaining the same thing about the other journalists to other characters several time, greatly slowing things down during that particular section. The interactions between Kat and the others, as well as finding out more about the world, was generally enough to keep me interested and going, though.DesignAlthough I can't comment on the book itself, as I read this in Kindle format, the cover image is simply okay. It does suggest both sci-fi and journalism, but I don't think the person looks all that good. (My apologies if this was done on an actual model...)WritingThe writing itself is generally readable. One thing to bear in mind is that it is young adult fiction, but I felt some of the phrasings were rather off, and some characters did tend to ramble on too long. That may have been the intent, though, given that the story is following a twelve-hour marathon reporting session. It actually felt a bit more rough in the first chapter than the rest of the book, perhaps not quite as polished.Overall3 stars on Sarah's Star SystemRecommended ForIf you're looking for a book that focuses primarily on brief interactions with a sci-fi backdrop, this is a good story to pick up.Review by: John of Sift Book ReviewsSift Book Reviews received a free copy for review from the author. This has, in no way, affected the reviewer's opinion.