Review of Homecoming

[Erin Maddox McPhee]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Homecoming" by Jude Austin.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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“Homecoming” is the second novel in Jude Austin’s “Five Worlds Series.” The first book, “Project Tau,” ended with Kalin and Tau escaping from the Sanderson GenTech lab. Kalin is understandably traumatized after two years of abuse and forced incarceration.Tau, on the other hand, is completely unfamiliar with the outside world. They now find themselves in a stolen shuttle and out of fuel, GenTech is after them, and they have very few options.

When Kalin's plan to reverse his death certificate and bring Tau to Trandellia with him hits a few snags, they have to improvise. After asking a corrupt official for help, he learns that in exchange he must perform a task that seems almost impossible. Meanwhile, Tau is abducted by a bounty hunter who is looking to cash in on GenTech's extensive reward money. The non-stop action kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering what would happen to these two best friends who have already been through so much. Just when all hope seems lost, however, Austin still has a few tricks up her sleeve.

I loved Austin’s character development and creative and detailed world-building. For example, Austin’s description of Tau's first experience with grass and rain helped me understand his wonder and fear when feeling what we would consider familiar for the first time. Even though Austin describes a reality that is very different from our own, I found it easy to connect with and understand.

I highly recommend both this book and the “Five Worlds Series.” They prompt the reader to consider challenging ethical questions and discern what it means to be truly human while also caring about the human (and potentially non-human) characters. The novel was also extremely well written and edited, without any discernible errors. For all these reasons, I give “Homecoming” a rating of 5 out of 5 stars.

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Homecoming
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