Review: sup-par SciFi
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 07 24, 2013
Ok, I have to admit I read this book thinking it was an early novel by an established scifi author.  By the time I realized my mistake - when I realized the plot and writing were not going to improve - I was far enough in that I wanted to see how the author resolved the plot.  Well, that was a mistake.  I am a sucker for sci fi - I'm willing to put up with cardboard characters and clunky dialog if there is an interesting concept or two and some credible world building.  Sorry, there really isn't much of either of those in this book.  The characterization and interpersonal relationships were really awful.  I can't recall any character who showed any character growth or even who appeared to be multi-dimensional in any way.  The main character - which the writer frequently reminds us is a Chinese woman - is not very likeable or believable. Why the male author chose to write from a female perspective escapes me.  The book is filled with cultural references to the 2000s (Harry Potter, for example) and I find it very difficult to believe that all these more or less current cultural references will still be relevant in the future.  The science made very little sense, and the motivations and actions of the aliens were completely illogical.  For example, why would one captured alien suddenly become a traitor to her entire species?  Further, why would the aliens use a technology that has awful potential impacts on the universe to quelch other worlds' development of that same technology?  I mean, I see why they want to tamp down that development, but why would they use the same dangerous technology to do so?So, while I think the author has some germs of a good story and idea, and, unlike many authors of free ebooks, has a grasp of spelling, grammar and punctuation, I would urge him to keep working on his craft.  And I would urge readers to wait until he does so and wait for that later work, rather than read this series.