Review by innocentdemand -- Solaris Seethes (Solaris Sag...
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innocentdemand
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Review by innocentdemand -- Solaris Seethes (Solaris Sag...
[Following is a volunteer review of "Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1)" by Janet McNulty.]
2 out of 4 stars
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As a reader, I am always hankering for a good book, and am always willing to try out stories from writers I have never heard of. Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga Book 1) is the first novel of a sci-fi fantasy series that I decided to gamble my time on. In the end, I rate this book at 2 out of 4 stars.
The book revolves primarily around the character Rynah, who’s planet is quite thoroughly destroyed at the beginning of the book. In order to stop the looming threat of universal destruction and takeover, she and her ship the Solaris round up four unwitting companions from throughout time and from different places, all due to guidance from an ancient myth from her people.
For a younger audience, this could be a gripping tale. As an older reader, it was somewhat enjoyable and I could feel the heart put into writing the story, but I couldn’t quite get myself immersed into the story. The action scenes are interesting and kept my attention, despite not being believable at times (see: a certain shark encounter later on in the story). The characters are a bit flat in their personalities, and though I do take a liking to them, there is so much more to them that could be fleshed out to make me absolutely love them. Perhaps this is something that is built upon more in the sequels, perhaps not. Despite this, their motivations are laid bare, and we get glimpses into their histories, allowing us readers to understand their personalities and their wills. Learning more and seeing more beyond their somewhat flat characterization would be lovely.
Some of the writing quirks of the author drew me out of immersion. She has an odd tendency to add unnecessary descriptions of things, even going so far as putting them into parenthesis. Do I need to know of the microwave in the mess hall? Am I supposed to be concerned of the fact that Rynah’s boots lace up the sides, as if it will play some vital role eventually? The author also has a tendency to somewhat repetitively use similar phrasing about characters running with their shoes of various types making certain sounds upon the ground. Perhaps these are just things that bother me, but the redundancy of these stylistic choices caused me to lose some respect in the writing style.
Beyond that, the alien planets they visited weren’t quite so alien in feel. One was pure water (where the previously mentioned shark incident occurred), another was modeled off the Mayans. Written off with the thought that perhaps these distant worlds could all branch from the same life as Earth, the places could feel more foreign and varied from what we on Earth come to expect.
This is a very light piece that children would enjoy thanks to the simplistic writing style and fast pace, perhaps even something that could hook them onto more complex sci-fi pieces later in their lives. The buildup to things is lacking because of the pacing, and we miss out on good world and character building due to this. For long-time readers of the genre, stay away. For the younger crowd just getting into it, or wanting perhaps to explore the tropes of the genre, this could be a good start.
******
Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1)
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
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2 out of 4 stars
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As a reader, I am always hankering for a good book, and am always willing to try out stories from writers I have never heard of. Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga Book 1) is the first novel of a sci-fi fantasy series that I decided to gamble my time on. In the end, I rate this book at 2 out of 4 stars.
The book revolves primarily around the character Rynah, who’s planet is quite thoroughly destroyed at the beginning of the book. In order to stop the looming threat of universal destruction and takeover, she and her ship the Solaris round up four unwitting companions from throughout time and from different places, all due to guidance from an ancient myth from her people.
For a younger audience, this could be a gripping tale. As an older reader, it was somewhat enjoyable and I could feel the heart put into writing the story, but I couldn’t quite get myself immersed into the story. The action scenes are interesting and kept my attention, despite not being believable at times (see: a certain shark encounter later on in the story). The characters are a bit flat in their personalities, and though I do take a liking to them, there is so much more to them that could be fleshed out to make me absolutely love them. Perhaps this is something that is built upon more in the sequels, perhaps not. Despite this, their motivations are laid bare, and we get glimpses into their histories, allowing us readers to understand their personalities and their wills. Learning more and seeing more beyond their somewhat flat characterization would be lovely.
Some of the writing quirks of the author drew me out of immersion. She has an odd tendency to add unnecessary descriptions of things, even going so far as putting them into parenthesis. Do I need to know of the microwave in the mess hall? Am I supposed to be concerned of the fact that Rynah’s boots lace up the sides, as if it will play some vital role eventually? The author also has a tendency to somewhat repetitively use similar phrasing about characters running with their shoes of various types making certain sounds upon the ground. Perhaps these are just things that bother me, but the redundancy of these stylistic choices caused me to lose some respect in the writing style.
Beyond that, the alien planets they visited weren’t quite so alien in feel. One was pure water (where the previously mentioned shark incident occurred), another was modeled off the Mayans. Written off with the thought that perhaps these distant worlds could all branch from the same life as Earth, the places could feel more foreign and varied from what we on Earth come to expect.
This is a very light piece that children would enjoy thanks to the simplistic writing style and fast pace, perhaps even something that could hook them onto more complex sci-fi pieces later in their lives. The buildup to things is lacking because of the pacing, and we miss out on good world and character building due to this. For long-time readers of the genre, stay away. For the younger crowd just getting into it, or wanting perhaps to explore the tropes of the genre, this could be a good start.
******
Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1)
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
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