Review: Really good story that overcomes a couple of technical errors
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 3, 2014
** I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review of the book. **Betrayal on Triton is a really good story by a writer with a really great ability to develop a plot and carry it out through the end of the book. The beginning of the book jumps right into the action, therefore this first chapter is full of unfamiliar jargon and the technical aspects of weapons and equipment are discussed at great length. Some of the information comes into play in the chapter and some later on, but I really feel that it could have been cut back some and still made sense. The good thing, though, is Henry is adept enough at creating suspense that I still wanted to keep reading despite being slightly overwhelmed at first by the terminology.  Also, as the story moved on, I got more familiar with the jargon and didn’t feel so out-of-sorts with it. It was a bold move to start without a lengthy backstory, but I think he managed to pull it off.Another aspect that really came to my attention from the get-go was that the dialogue often got lost in the narrative. Henry writes really good dialogue for the most part, but he would often start a paragraph with what someone said, insert a good bit of narrative, and end the paragraph with the rest of what that person was saying. The problem with this, besides the purely grammatical aspects of it, is that the dialogue loses its momentum. So in many places where the dialogue could have really moved, it gets held back by the narrative attached to it. There were even places where the dialogue was in the middle of a paragraph and a few places where two different people have spoken parts in one paragraph. This kept the dialogue from coming alive in places where it really could have shined. Luckily, the storytelling made up for the grammatical issues and the plot moved along rapidly enough to carry the places where the dialogue got bogged down.When it comes to characterization, Henry again created characters that I wanted to see win, even though they were not the people our society would have openly supported (he did this adeptly in his novel Omega Zero, as well). I think the romantic element does add to that character development. I also like the subtleties and nuances of his social commentary. His explanation as to the outcome of our civilization provides an interesting perspective on the ecological and capitalistic state of affairs.  As far as the plot goes, Henry did not fail to deliver there either. I really have to say that some aspects of the plot truly surprised me, and that is not something I say often.  I would definitely read a sequel if one is released. Overall, even though there were some technical errors, I feel like the story itself outweighed them. It was truly a good book, and I am glad I read it. I have the feeling this author is going to truly go far with his writing.