marjories's review
5.0
A 500 light year race where seconds count and nothing is as it seems. This is the story of an incredible grueling, technically difficult, well-conceived race. The first of its kind, it is novel in concept and incredibly dangerous from the gate. The challenges on the course aren't the only ones Raith is facing though. Demons from his past haunt him and the race itself is filled with outside obstacles, some planted, some completely unexpected. Some conflicts are personal, others have much farther reaching political ramifications. None are without casualty.
This book takes in the Theran universe and features an SI (synthetic intelligence) character but can be enjoyed as a standalone novel. As with the other Theran books, Tavenor explores the concepts of self, identity, friendships, character, and more. Great read for fans of sci-fi space opera who appreciate a great adventure that helps expand your horizons and gives you ideas to expand your horizons.
This book takes in the Theran universe and features an SI (synthetic intelligence) character but can be enjoyed as a standalone novel. As with the other Theran books, Tavenor explores the concepts of self, identity, friendships, character, and more. Great read for fans of sci-fi space opera who appreciate a great adventure that helps expand your horizons and gives you ideas to expand your horizons.
marianc6f98's review
5.0
Smugglers. Pirates. Bars where all the spaceship pilots and crew hang out. Ships that are melded to an operator’s mind. Black holes and jumps through space. All the ingredients of classis sci-fi, focused around a synthetic intelligence, Raith, who lives to race starships. But a less-than-honest past is threatening both his chance for a return to racing and the crew he is reluctantly working with to win the newest, biggest race the known universe has seen.
I absolutely loved this book. I read it in less than 24 hours, nearly unheard of (for me) these days. It’s short – a long novella or a short novel, at about 50K words. Set in the same world that author C.D. Tavenor created for First of Their Kind and The Greatest Game (also fine novels), Flight of the 500 can be read as a stand-alone with no difficulty at all.
The fast-paced writing is exactly in tune with the story, where speed and finesse and rapid changes are necessary for Raith to have any chance of winning the challenging race. There is just enough character development and a growth arc for Raith to make him interesting (I was about to say human, but he isn’t). Supporting characters are distinct personalities, and the world fleshed-out enough to make me believe in it. Highly recommended for fans of classic, action-oriented science fiction.
I absolutely loved this book. I read it in less than 24 hours, nearly unheard of (for me) these days. It’s short – a long novella or a short novel, at about 50K words. Set in the same world that author C.D. Tavenor created for First of Their Kind and The Greatest Game (also fine novels), Flight of the 500 can be read as a stand-alone with no difficulty at all.
The fast-paced writing is exactly in tune with the story, where speed and finesse and rapid changes are necessary for Raith to have any chance of winning the challenging race. There is just enough character development and a growth arc for Raith to make him interesting (I was about to say human, but he isn’t). Supporting characters are distinct personalities, and the world fleshed-out enough to make me believe in it. Highly recommended for fans of classic, action-oriented science fiction.
More...