Review: ❤ this sci-fi serial fiction--plenty of aliens, a little AI, interstellar space travel and lots of futuristic gadgets/gizmos...
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 9, 2013
This 2nd book in 'The Tale of Batharok' series (the first beingThe Dream Merchant (The Tale of Batharok)) is an action, adventure story with great space opera undertones. A great read, it's rare to find a modern sci-fi writer of this caliber (errors aside, which in no way deter from a satisfying read) who can successfully write about the inner and outer lives of their characters while simultaneously creating a page-turner of a plot. The author successfully captures a series of fantastic and exciting set-pieces from the threat of impending alien attack to large-scale inter-planetary battles with futuristic weapons and this story is always interesting and often fascinating. I loved how the intricate plot weaves together fascinating traditional sci-fi elements (aliens, interstellar space travel, alien devices, high-tech gadgets and gizmos, Artificial Intelligence, and more) with a stellar cast, of both genders--it's great to find a modern male author who writes fantastic heroines as well as heroes. The writing has an archaic quality (in the best sense of the word), an almost innocence, that is largely the domain of science fiction writers of a foregone era. Reading this book is like reading a classic, but fresh, sci-fi book from another time. ***SPOILER ALERT*** In addition to truly great characters, there are several fantastic devices, which are key plot elements and may or may not result in saving our main characters (I'm waiting for the author to publish book 3 in the series to find out). To avoid a book review over share, I'll just add that it is unique to find fresh genre authors and if you love Heinlein, or 'The Tripod' series by John Christophere, then I think you will really like this book. I expect the author of this book, if he continues to write books, to become a formidable writer (and I hope he writes some prequels about the terrible AI wars and so on). The book ends with a fantastic cliffhanger that will make you hungry for the 3rd book in the series. Happy reading~* #spaceadventure #scifi #spaceopera