Review: 4 1/2 Stars from "Red Adept Reviews"
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 3, 2011
I received The Quaking Sun, by Dan Meade, as a Review Copy submitted by the author.Plot/Storyline: 4 3/4 StarsThe story opened with a scene I felt was going to have a climactic ending. Unfortunately, it was simply a piece of what I call a `fake cliffhanger.' This was a little off-putting to me, but I kept reading because the Tyree family really interested me. Fortunately, that was the only scene of that type. All others gave proper payoffs for the suspense.The portion in which a story was used to reveal the roots of the Tyree family history should really have been portioned out rather than told all in one chunk. By the time I finished reading it, I had forgotten a little about what was going on in present day. While the story was interesting, the needed information could have been given in small bites while leaving out many unnecessary details.The climactic scenes were very well done. This author knew how to ratchet tension to a point that I couldn't put my Kindle down without knowing the outcome.The juxtaposition of the Tyrees, the bad guys, and the government officials intrigued me as representatives of each saw the same events in different lights. The Tyrees viewed everything rather simply, the bad guys appeared to see everything in a what-can-I-gain way, whereas the government officials just blindly followed protocol, for the most part. However, none of these were able to step back and see from another's perspective.The ending was suspenseful and unexpectedly realistic, at least the portion to which I am referring. Well, it did have a couple of things that weren't so realistic, but it was believable overall and fitting for the book.I didn't really like the epilogue as it felt like the author was trying to ram home the prevailing message of the novel. The novel delivered its message well. I didn't feel I needed it to be spoon-fed by an epilogue.  The epilogue was there  for another reason, but I felt the revelation it provided could just as easily been given, and perhaps even given more effectively, in the end of the narrative.Characters: 3 3/4 StarsAlthough the description implies that Fawn Tyree was the main character, I didn't find there to be any real focus on any one character. As the story was told from an omnscient viewpoint, many characters voices were heard in detail. Fawn may well have had the most `up front' time, but she was not as well developed as I would expect a main character to be. She didn't personally elicit much empathy from me, as my empathies lay more with the family as a whole.With the massive amount of characters and the narrative style, it was really difficult to keep up with all of them after putting the book down and then coming back to it. The long history mentioned above was a particular problem with this as it seemed like eons before certain characters were visited again, so that I had forgotten much about them. Also, there just wasn't enough development to help me remember their personalities. Also, the supposed `main character,' Fawn, had a sister named Faith. The names were so close that I kept getting them mixed up. Fortunately, Faith wasn't a prevailing character, which held the confusion to a minimum.The `bad guys' that weren't from the area were poorly developed without enough background to give them more than a two-dimensional feel. The `bad guys' from around those parts were a little better, as they had clearer motivations.The introduction of even more characters halfway through book created more depth, yet I would really have preferred to have more of their imparted information from the viewpoint of the Tyrees. The juxtaposition I mentioned above would have gone far deeper had only one character from each group been brought to the fore, with one from the final group being followed from the beginning.Writing Style: 5 StarsThe writing style flowed with exquisite prose. Scenes leapt off the page with exquisitely detailed descriptions. I enjoyed the dialogue immensely. The characters each had their own voice without having overdone it on the dialect. While I'm not a fan of the omniscient style, it was pulled off with aplomb in this book. At no time was I confused about whose thoughts I was privy to, and it never felt like random `head-hopping.'