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[Following is a volunteer review of "Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1)" by Janet McNulty.]

Solaris Seethes, by Janet McNulty, is a science fiction novel for young adults that sits squarely in the space opera genre. The story follows the adventures of Rynah, a young security officer on the planet Lanyr, who helps secure a data crystal keeping the planet stable. She is betrayed by her fiancée Klanor, who steals the crystal and causes the planet to be torn apart by storms and earthquakes. Rynah escapes in a rickety, sentient spaceship named Solaris, which was built long ago by her grandfather. Together, they try to prevent Klanor from acquiring other similar crystals that will enable him to control the galaxy. They must go to Earth and enlist the help of four extraordinary individuals: a warrior, a philosopher, an inventor, and a lover.

At the start, and through the first sections of the book, I was excited by the promise of intergalactic thrills and chills. The stakes were high, the action constant, and Solaris had a sarcastic and funny personality. After that, however, some key flaws emerged that severely disrupted the book’s flow: simplistic and implausible science, and underdeveloped and wooden characters.

Among the many sub-genres of Science Fiction, Space Opera is mainly interested in adventuring, space battles, and colorful planets and aliens. Unlike other sub-genres, it does not require minute scientific detail, just general plausibility. In Solaris Seethes, the scientific explanations are perfunctory and ultimately glossed over. For instance, in describing how the crystal has kept Lanyr stable, Rynah states, “It is difficult to explain all of the engineering behind it, but suffice it to say that all he [the inventor] had to do was construct a computer to hold it, punch in a code, and it worked.” I don’t need a PhD-level thesis, but I need more.

The characters in book are “undercooked”, much like the science. The author does not spend much time revealing motivations or any sense of realistic wants and needs. The characters seem to be vessels solely chosen for variety and employed to carry out the actions of the plot. For example, we don’t really learn much about the motivations for Klanor, a megalomaniacal mass murderer. He is just painted as “evil” and comes across as a cartoonish, mustache-twirling villain, an intergalactic Snidely Whiplash. The only thing we know is that he must be stopped.

The author clearly wanted to highlight the theme of believing in yourself to overcome difficulties, which seems appropriate for this book’s target audience and which I personally like. However, this seemed a mismatch given the stakes involved. If you are concerned with saving the galaxy from a murdering psychopath, maybe don’t enlist the help of a “lover” and get more “warriors”.

Ultimately, I gave the book 2 out of 4 stars. The premise was exciting and original and the story structure was competent, but the flawed execution prevented me from rating this book higher. I felt like the ingredients were all there for a rollicking space tale, but the author undercooked some items and overcooked others.

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Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1)
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Like hectora's review? Post a comment saying so!

Your review is really hilarious. I read and reviewed this recently and I agree with much of what you said but I kinda saw the usefulness of the Lover in the book, especially at the end. Don't want to reveal any spoilers but the Lover showed true love at the end. Once again, really enjoyed your review.

Thanks! I usually tend to be a sucker for characters that are out of their depth and who come through in the end. The idea of a shy teen forced to participate in a galactic adventure is always promising. She might be less of a "Lover" and more of an Underdog.