Probably the book I enjoyed the least in the series as while it continued the Slaver Wars story very closely & kept our favorite characters close, it had too many elements that just simply didn’t make sense and were completely illogical.
As I’ve just mentioned this one has the same core key characters however the focus is more on their offspring as they have progressed with the advancement of human science after the discovery of the survivors on Ceres from the previous book Ceres from the previous book.
This time the focus is all about the first human interstellar vessel and its launch into space. While the coverage of that part of the book is really good and in all honesty I think makes sense with the testing that they are conducting. What doesn’t make sense is the plot to take over the ship and settle in another part of the galaxy.
Simply put anyone with even half a brain would realize that a population size of the ship of that size isn’t simply enough to create a viable colony. In addition considering that they didn’t have a destination planet in mind the chances of finding a place to set up such a colony without intensive research just doesn’t make sense!
While I realize that some conflict is necessary this just seemed forced and didn’t really do anything for me in terms of the real underlying story.
The special four or five with the addition of Katie definitely has a big place in the future of the series and I could see why they were introduced, but here too some of these characters really don’t do a significant amount and are just hangers-on.
Having completed the series at this point (up until the Lost Fleet series of books anyway) I can tell you that it’s well worth continuing so even though you might feel that this book is dragging and find the same flaws that I did I can only warrant that it is worth the pain and effort.
What I liked and didn’t like
Let’s start with the worst 1st!
I think have made it quite clear that the whole conspiracy angle was something that just didn’t sit well with me. The sad fact is that any space program and especially one with the importance that this one must have, a psychological survey is part of it and to miss that part of it just seems obtuse.
In addition, even if the megalomaniac could sneak through the site survey they can’t be as stupid as they are portrayed here and be someone with such cardboard feelings! The villains are just too black and white with threats of rape and abuse seeming obtuse!
What do I like?
- Well, I did enjoy the fact that the humans on series continue to develop their technology and the Kocklyns Slaver Empire also continue to advance in terms of the size of the empire.
- I actually quite like the character of Jeremy and also enjoyed the fact that the survivors on Ceres had placed some covert assistance on the expedition.
- I liked the character of Ariel although here too I think that she was portrayed a little bit too childlike and innocent although Katie, by contrast, was quite a good character.
- Kevin and Angela, however, didn’t really do anything for me & to be honest throughout the series, they are more filler than anything really important.
Final thoughts
Overall the weakest in the series but it does have some key elements and some key characters that are worth meeting. A quick read if you have the time, but you could almost skip it and still enjoy the remainder of the series.
