Review by reviews_by_yana -- Solaris Seethes (Solaris Sa...
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reviews_by_yana
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Review by reviews_by_yana -- Solaris Seethes (Solaris Sa...
[Following is a volunteer review of "Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1)" by Janet McNulty.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Solaris Seethes is the first book in the Solaris Saga written by Janet McNulty. This sci-fi/fantasy tale is embedded with action as it unfolds through all 27 chapters. The adventure begins when a strong-willed security agent, Rynah, is faced with the abrupt destruction of her home planet, Lanyr. She soon finds solace and guidance in her spaceship, Solaris, and the real action starts. Through her journey, Rynah learns that much of what she believes about her planet and its inhabitants may not be true, and she holds to an ancient text to help her find the answers she needs. Along the way she forges a bond with four unlikely individuals to assist her in this tale of redemption, courage, and love.
From the beginning of this book I sensed that it transcended a merely science fiction genre. There are elements of action, adventure, mystery, and historical fiction throughout. The element of mystery is exemplified in this story as the characters follow the guidance of an ancient text in an almost scavenger-hunt approach. Some historical fiction is seen as the crew travels to different sectors, albeit, it seemed a bit romanticized. Overall, I thought McNulty succeeded in including many different genres to tell the story.
Descriptive and complex vocabulary sprinkled throughout created a good amount of sensory imagery. This gives readers a peek into the captivatingly boundless imagination of McNulty. As such, I was not surprised to find that this saga has an accompanying coloring book.
The characters of this book were all presented with their own unique origins and abilities and formed a comical motley crew. There was a decent build and development of the characters, however, sometimes character actions did come off as a bit cliche. In my opinion, there were also parts in the book that seemed too coincidental and did not incite much curiosity. Some areas of the book did not seem to be thought out, but rather appeared to be forced ideas. Reading through some chapters of the book felt as if McNulty was attempting to find a way to avoid realistic consequences and rather paint an exaggeratedly heroic picture of reality.
Grammatically, the only issue I had with this book was with the frequent use of parentheses. It appeared as though McNulty was attempting to provide a more inclusive picture to set a visual scene, but it felt a bit excessive. The parentheses may have helped to avoid run-on sentences, but they were a bit distracting to me and caused the readability to suffer in these areas.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The story line was quite imaginative and the action was captivating as each chapter seemed to have its own climax, however, I had a few issues with the book overall. I didn’t feel that each character was developed equally which took away from the potential plot build in this book. I am hoping that the later books in the saga provide for more development. Also, after reading through a few chapters, the book became a bit predictable as it sought to fulfill a heroic theme. Despite these setbacks, I would be interested in reading the other two books in the saga as the first book left me with a cliffhanger.
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Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1)
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3 out of 4 stars
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Solaris Seethes is the first book in the Solaris Saga written by Janet McNulty. This sci-fi/fantasy tale is embedded with action as it unfolds through all 27 chapters. The adventure begins when a strong-willed security agent, Rynah, is faced with the abrupt destruction of her home planet, Lanyr. She soon finds solace and guidance in her spaceship, Solaris, and the real action starts. Through her journey, Rynah learns that much of what she believes about her planet and its inhabitants may not be true, and she holds to an ancient text to help her find the answers she needs. Along the way she forges a bond with four unlikely individuals to assist her in this tale of redemption, courage, and love.
From the beginning of this book I sensed that it transcended a merely science fiction genre. There are elements of action, adventure, mystery, and historical fiction throughout. The element of mystery is exemplified in this story as the characters follow the guidance of an ancient text in an almost scavenger-hunt approach. Some historical fiction is seen as the crew travels to different sectors, albeit, it seemed a bit romanticized. Overall, I thought McNulty succeeded in including many different genres to tell the story.
Descriptive and complex vocabulary sprinkled throughout created a good amount of sensory imagery. This gives readers a peek into the captivatingly boundless imagination of McNulty. As such, I was not surprised to find that this saga has an accompanying coloring book.
The characters of this book were all presented with their own unique origins and abilities and formed a comical motley crew. There was a decent build and development of the characters, however, sometimes character actions did come off as a bit cliche. In my opinion, there were also parts in the book that seemed too coincidental and did not incite much curiosity. Some areas of the book did not seem to be thought out, but rather appeared to be forced ideas. Reading through some chapters of the book felt as if McNulty was attempting to find a way to avoid realistic consequences and rather paint an exaggeratedly heroic picture of reality.
Grammatically, the only issue I had with this book was with the frequent use of parentheses. It appeared as though McNulty was attempting to provide a more inclusive picture to set a visual scene, but it felt a bit excessive. The parentheses may have helped to avoid run-on sentences, but they were a bit distracting to me and caused the readability to suffer in these areas.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The story line was quite imaginative and the action was captivating as each chapter seemed to have its own climax, however, I had a few issues with the book overall. I didn’t feel that each character was developed equally which took away from the potential plot build in this book. I am hoping that the later books in the saga provide for more development. Also, after reading through a few chapters, the book became a bit predictable as it sought to fulfill a heroic theme. Despite these setbacks, I would be interested in reading the other two books in the saga as the first book left me with a cliffhanger.
******
Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1)
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
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Latest Review: "The 11.05 Murders" by Brian O'Hare
