A review by mj_james_writes
Mission to Methone by Les Johnson
4.0
Mission to Methone is a classic alien contact science fiction novel. It is apparent that it was written with the intention of staying true to more the more classic style. I found the novel entertaining and worth the read, but it did fall short of spectacular.
I found the writing well done. While it was not overwhelmingly beautiful, it also was not distracting from the story. The characters were each distinct and unique, although the side characters could have been given more dimension. Chris, the main character, is (per the author) on the autism spectrum. There is nothing in the book that would spell this out, but there are fine points that the author wove in. I read the annotated version of this book (from PageHabit) and was minorly annoyed that the author called Chris someone the reader was not meant to like. Ok, I admit I was actually kind of pissed off. I found his character quite enjoyable and fitting. I thought the description of him being on the spectrum was suttle and mostly well played. I also enjoyed how he was able to stay in the center of the team making first contact. He was quite enjoyable, and having autism does not make one unlikable - although, I have been called that a bit in my life. So, maybe there is more truth to that then I wish to explore. But back to the review.
I did question some of the motivating factors of both the humans and the aliens. While I appreciated where Johnson went with the book, I also think that he could have gone further. It was still a solid read and well worth my time.
I found the writing well done. While it was not overwhelmingly beautiful, it also was not distracting from the story. The characters were each distinct and unique, although the side characters could have been given more dimension. Chris, the main character, is (per the author) on the autism spectrum. There is nothing in the book that would spell this out, but there are fine points that the author wove in. I read the annotated version of this book (from PageHabit) and was minorly annoyed that the author called Chris someone the reader was not meant to like. Ok, I admit I was actually kind of pissed off. I found his character quite enjoyable and fitting. I thought the description of him being on the spectrum was suttle and mostly well played. I also enjoyed how he was able to stay in the center of the team making first contact. He was quite enjoyable, and having autism does not make one unlikable - although, I have been called that a bit in my life. So, maybe there is more truth to that then I wish to explore. But back to the review.
I did question some of the motivating factors of both the humans and the aliens. While I appreciated where Johnson went with the book, I also think that he could have gone further. It was still a solid read and well worth my time.