Review: An Open Ended Prequel.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 17, 2013
I don't know if it's a cardinal sin or not, but I read the prequel before the actual stories. I've noted that a few reviewers have stated that the series seem to make more sense this way.Travelling to what I presume is Earth, but it may be only an Earth-like planet, we meet 13 year old Viola and her parents. This family was the one selected to venture forth and lay the foundation for the rest of the colony. Their goal is to beat the convoy by about 7 months, Viola's parents are filled with hope - this is a recurrent word which the author clearly intends as a theme.Viola is fitful and angsty, her demeanor, attitude and parental interaction certainly suffer for her own hopelessness as it relates to the potential outcomes of this endeavor (in stereotyped 13 year old fashion).SPOILERS (watch from them).Upon attempting to land the crew encounters atmosphere that is `too thick'. The ship catches fire and is crash landed into a swamp. The outcome turns quite sour, and excruciatingly heart-wrenching (there were tears floating along the bottom lids) as a 13 year old girl is left stranded on a strange planet, no familiar faces in sight and the wonder of what else inhabits this world. The only thing she can rely on is something she can't see - her mother's `hope'.The story as a whole certainly has potential to be quite interesting, and this prequel leaves many ends un-done, with purposeful intent. It just may have been enough to sucker me in.