mrbear30021's review
5.0
Great, fun read.
This is the second time reading this story. The first was nearly a year ago when I got it as part of a box collection of British authors. As a marketing gimmick, it paid off and then some. I ended up purchasing the Saiph books individually as well as several books by other participating authors form that box set.
This is a fast paced story that brings you in and keeps your attention until you're done. While some of the events are a bit cliche, as in we've seen them before in other stories, but the writing itself makes up for it. My only problem is that I am dyslexic and the large cast of characters and locations became a little muddled to me. It is a short coming on my part and not the fault of the authors. If you are like me, you may need to make a few notes to keep track of who and where.
This is the second time reading this story. The first was nearly a year ago when I got it as part of a box collection of British authors. As a marketing gimmick, it paid off and then some. I ended up purchasing the Saiph books individually as well as several books by other participating authors form that box set.
This is a fast paced story that brings you in and keeps your attention until you're done. While some of the events are a bit cliche, as in we've seen them before in other stories, but the writing itself makes up for it. My only problem is that I am dyslexic and the large cast of characters and locations became a little muddled to me. It is a short coming on my part and not the fault of the authors. If you are like me, you may need to make a few notes to keep track of who and where.
silelda's review
3.0
I picked this book up because I love military sci-fi and Corcoran incorporates his own experience in the military with his books.
That being said, I had to take a break from this book about half way through. I realized I wasn't enjoying it when they were having their first battle against the Others (enemy alien race) and I was bored. I took a long break from reading it, came back to it and then finished it. For me it didn't really pick up until the alliances with other species came into play. When it was just humans versus others, I didn't really care. It wasn't until we teamed up with other friendly races that I actually started caring.
Part of the problem, for me, is the lack of character depth. I'm not saying the characters were one dimensional, I'm saying that we don't get to know the characters well enough to really care about them. A lot of times it felt like just saying someone's name and occupation was supposed to be enough to make me care about them. Other times it felt like there were so many names, ranks and occupations that it was hard to keep characters straight.
Once the other races came into play, though, I was fully engaged. I'm not fully sure I know why other than that it felt like it was no longer just "us versus them". It finally felt like there were actually other worlds to learn about, other cultures to learn from, and more.
I really appreciated Corcoran's sense of humor that came into play at good moments. I loved the contrasting ideas about "appropriate greetings" between the cultures. I really liked that economics and population were factors. There were plenty of technical aspects of expansion, exploration and war that were addressed that made it feel more real. My only problem is a lack of connection to the characters.
Overall, I can really only give this book a 2.5. I had to make myself finish it and it didn't pick up until late. I doubt I'll pick up any more books in this series.
That being said, I had to take a break from this book about half way through. I realized I wasn't enjoying it when they were having their first battle against the Others (enemy alien race) and I was bored. I took a long break from reading it, came back to it and then finished it. For me it didn't really pick up until the alliances with other species came into play. When it was just humans versus others, I didn't really care. It wasn't until we teamed up with other friendly races that I actually started caring.
Part of the problem, for me, is the lack of character depth. I'm not saying the characters were one dimensional, I'm saying that we don't get to know the characters well enough to really care about them. A lot of times it felt like just saying someone's name and occupation was supposed to be enough to make me care about them. Other times it felt like there were so many names, ranks and occupations that it was hard to keep characters straight.
Once the other races came into play, though, I was fully engaged. I'm not fully sure I know why other than that it felt like it was no longer just "us versus them". It finally felt like there were actually other worlds to learn about, other cultures to learn from, and more.
I really appreciated Corcoran's sense of humor that came into play at good moments. I loved the contrasting ideas about "appropriate greetings" between the cultures. I really liked that economics and population were factors. There were plenty of technical aspects of expansion, exploration and war that were addressed that made it feel more real. My only problem is a lack of connection to the characters.
Overall, I can really only give this book a 2.5. I had to make myself finish it and it didn't pick up until late. I doubt I'll pick up any more books in this series.
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