Now, I know this book has not been the most popular in the series. When I said it was the one I was reading next, my sister, and several other people, warned me that it was ‘a bit rubbish’ (I am paraphrasing) and that I should skip it.
I am glad I didn’t listen to them!
Alright, so it’s nowhere near as good as the first three books in the series, but then again that is going to take a lot of beating.
Lets start with the positive.
Excellent characters: They are well written, carefully thought out and each have their own goals. None of them are perfect and for most of the novel, none of them actually get on either. I’m not going to spoil the novel for those that want to go away and read it but for me, ‘Rambo-Space Marine’ was one of the highlights of the book. The mental images that the writing brought to mind were perfect!
Solid Story Line: There is a good plot to the novel which I never thought I would like. The setting is space and it involves a lot of ship combat – something I never thought I would like about a novel. However this is the exception. There is a lot of it in the book and it is very well written. Ben Counter knows his stuff!
The Negative.
Pace: I would have thought that a book with so much going on in it would be a bit quicker. Such is not the case however. There are parts of the novel that are plodding and slow and I feel that with another round of editing, it could have been so much better. There are a lot of dead words and without these ti would have been a much more exciting read.
Generally speaking, pace is the only thing wrong with the novel. Counter is a master at writing and I really enjoyed reading this book.
Heretic Deb! 