Review of Rulers of the Galaxy
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P Chap
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Review of Rulers of the Galaxy
[Following is a volunteer review of "Rulers of the Galaxy" by Tayma Tameem.]
For a ruler, what comes first, his heir or his kingdom? Protect his child at the cost of his people or sacrifice his baby for saving the masses? This is the exact question a king and queen face when their kingdom becomes the victim of an unexpected, vicious invasion. Chaos ensues; sudden war, bloodshed, total annihilation of a race and an entire planet. Amid this death and destruction, a disoriented young woman, Salarin, wakes up to the sound of a baby crying nearby. She cannot remember how she got in the middle of a war zone. Nor can she remember anything about herself. She takes the baby and fights her way out of the death site on pure instinct. She is desperate to know her identity and the origins of the little one she is now irrevocably tied to. She courageously pairs up with a jovial and clever raider, Bosco, to try to find answers to the million questions in her head. They set off on an epic adventure in their little ship hurtling across planets, through asteroids and out into the infinite space. Do they find what they're looking for? And who is that shadow creeping up over this brave but oblivious trio? What do our protagonists have to do with the scheming of inter-galactic governments? To find out answers to these questions, you have to read the epic space adventure Rulers of the Galaxy by Tayma Tameem.
The scale of the plot is grand. Tameem delves into the worlds of Elementals and Imperials with gusto. There is plenty of action, "exciting" chases, and an ample number of sword-strokes and gunshots flying around. Tameem is successful in creating the space-adventure vibe with her descriptions of space travel, different planets and their multi-racial, humanoid-or-maybe-not citizens. The plot oscillates between the story of Salarin and Bosco on one hand and the scheming inter-galactic governments on the other. However, the former part is definitely more interesting. The casual banter between Salarin and her raider friend is a delight to read. And of course, there is the omnipresent baby in the background. Cooing, crying or merely sleeping, the child has an unmistakable presence.
The parallel storyline with inter-galactic rulers is unnecessarily long and sometimes tedious. It takes quite a while to connect the dots between a character and its place in the story. There are simply too many of these characters and it is hard to keep track of each of them. The frequent jumps between the two tracks make for patchy and disjointed storytelling. The length of the overall book could also have been shorter with crisper editing. Most of the grand high-octane chases or fights are not quite that edgy. That is why, for all its fast-paced, sci-fi vibe, the book manages to intrigue but not quite engross. And despite running on for four hundred pages, it still ends on an unexpectedly hanging note. One can only hope that a sequel is in the making.
I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. Full marks to Tameem for exploiting her imagination to the fullest to create such vivid worlds. The unnecessary length and disjointedness in the plot are the things that kept it short of perfection.
All sci-fi fans will be hooked on this adventure. The book takes us away on an interstellar ride far from our world into realms unimagined and galaxies unexplored. So, hop into your imaginary spaceship, put on your seatbelt and get ready to fly into a whole new literary universe.
******
Rulers of the Galaxy
View: on Bookshelves
For a ruler, what comes first, his heir or his kingdom? Protect his child at the cost of his people or sacrifice his baby for saving the masses? This is the exact question a king and queen face when their kingdom becomes the victim of an unexpected, vicious invasion. Chaos ensues; sudden war, bloodshed, total annihilation of a race and an entire planet. Amid this death and destruction, a disoriented young woman, Salarin, wakes up to the sound of a baby crying nearby. She cannot remember how she got in the middle of a war zone. Nor can she remember anything about herself. She takes the baby and fights her way out of the death site on pure instinct. She is desperate to know her identity and the origins of the little one she is now irrevocably tied to. She courageously pairs up with a jovial and clever raider, Bosco, to try to find answers to the million questions in her head. They set off on an epic adventure in their little ship hurtling across planets, through asteroids and out into the infinite space. Do they find what they're looking for? And who is that shadow creeping up over this brave but oblivious trio? What do our protagonists have to do with the scheming of inter-galactic governments? To find out answers to these questions, you have to read the epic space adventure Rulers of the Galaxy by Tayma Tameem.
The scale of the plot is grand. Tameem delves into the worlds of Elementals and Imperials with gusto. There is plenty of action, "exciting" chases, and an ample number of sword-strokes and gunshots flying around. Tameem is successful in creating the space-adventure vibe with her descriptions of space travel, different planets and their multi-racial, humanoid-or-maybe-not citizens. The plot oscillates between the story of Salarin and Bosco on one hand and the scheming inter-galactic governments on the other. However, the former part is definitely more interesting. The casual banter between Salarin and her raider friend is a delight to read. And of course, there is the omnipresent baby in the background. Cooing, crying or merely sleeping, the child has an unmistakable presence.
The parallel storyline with inter-galactic rulers is unnecessarily long and sometimes tedious. It takes quite a while to connect the dots between a character and its place in the story. There are simply too many of these characters and it is hard to keep track of each of them. The frequent jumps between the two tracks make for patchy and disjointed storytelling. The length of the overall book could also have been shorter with crisper editing. Most of the grand high-octane chases or fights are not quite that edgy. That is why, for all its fast-paced, sci-fi vibe, the book manages to intrigue but not quite engross. And despite running on for four hundred pages, it still ends on an unexpectedly hanging note. One can only hope that a sequel is in the making.
I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. Full marks to Tameem for exploiting her imagination to the fullest to create such vivid worlds. The unnecessary length and disjointedness in the plot are the things that kept it short of perfection.
All sci-fi fans will be hooked on this adventure. The book takes us away on an interstellar ride far from our world into realms unimagined and galaxies unexplored. So, hop into your imaginary spaceship, put on your seatbelt and get ready to fly into a whole new literary universe.
******
Rulers of the Galaxy
View: on Bookshelves
Latest Review: Beyond the Higher Ground by Thomas A. Brigger
