Review by ReaderRose -- Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga bo...
Posted: 21 May 2017, 23:50
[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 (Solaris Saga book 1) by Janet McNulty
Solaris Seethes is a science fiction adventure book about an unusual group coming together to stop the destruction of the galaxy. After losing her planet and being betrayed by the man she loves, Rynah unites four earthlings from different time periods to try to undo the damage to her home world and save the universe. Rynah and the AI of the ship her grandfather left for her use the old legends and prophecies to try to stop Klanor from uniting the crystals and destroying the universe. The prophecy says that they need a warrior, an inventor, a scribe, and someone that is incredibly loving; the four earthlings. There are 12 sectors that have planets with intelligent life on them, not counting Earth; the legend states that they need “Four from thirteen.” After bringing the humans aboard the ship, they decide to help Rynah gather the other crystals that Klanor needs for his weapon that can destroy planets. The warrior is Alfric, a Norse chief that is the eldest; the inventor is Tom, a late 21st century engineer; the scribe is Solon, a young man from Ancient Greece and considered weak; and the one with the ability to be loving is Brie, the only other woman aside from Rynah and a teenage girl that has been bullied since her father passed. There was a language barrier that the ship’s AI helped with at first, until Rynah injected the humans with nanites. It is difficult for them to understand the legends to find the crystals, Solon figures it out with some help from the AI, Solaris. They fight Klanor’s men to try to gain the crystals at every turn.
I enjoyed reading this book, it had some wording errors and a few continuity errors. I liked that it showed the perspective of the five leading characters, instead of focusing just on one and following them. It had a diverse group of characters; a light purple alien, a Greek teenager, a Norse clansman, an American girl that is just trying to survive high school, and a black engineer from the future. I think that it could have foreshadowed in a less blatant way for what happens at the end of this book. I think that it could have been better expanded on how they were able to quickly navigate from one sector to another. I liked that it explained where the crystal for Rynah’s planet was originally found and what impact its removal had. I usually prefer to read more fantasy than sci-fi; however, this was a decent book to get someone more into sci-fi. It was interesting that even though Solaris was only an artificial intelligence, she had a unique personality that made her a strong character in the book.
I am rating this book three out of four, primarily because of the typos that I came across. I also did not like the word choice for different parts, it would have been clearer and better with the words I would have used. The first issue that I noticed was a continuity issue where it stated that Rynah was in a nebula for five days after fleeing from her world before agreeing to let Solaris transport the four humans to the ship, and then while talking to the humans, Rynah says that “Yesterday, my entire planet was destroyed…” There were also some run-on sentences and incorrect word usage; in one part, Rynah is explaining why she needs help from the four humans: "they could create a most deadly weapon." It should read "they could create the deadliest weapon."
Personally, I think that the story could have headed in a different direction by changing some of the wording in the prophesy that Solaris recites to Rynah in the beginning. It could have been more vague about each of the four humans role in helping Rynah. Some would be obvious, anyways; however, it would give the characters and the reader something else to discover and understand about the complexities of the characters. That would provide more depth to the characters for the readers to get more attached to them. I think that most of the author's choices in the book of the character development and direction of the story was well chosen and focused correctly. Other than the obvious foreshadowing, it was well done on how the story progressed.
Overall, it is a interesting science fiction book with some fantasy with prophesies from the past included. A purple skin-toned alien gets help from four humans with little in common since they are from different places and times. The travel across the galaxy to get the crystals before Klanor and prevent him from being able to destroy whole planets. Rynah argues with Solaris about bringing the humans aboard the ship; eventually Rynah agrees and they meet Solon, Alfric, Tom and Brie. They argue amongst each other and learn about their families as they try to protect the universe from Klanor. It was a enjoyable book that had very interesting characters that all had interesting growth. They are very diverse in cultures, as well as when and where they are from. The unusual group is united by a common cause of saving the universe, the driving force moving them forward. Other than the few typos, wording errors, and continuity errors; the story was well written and a good read. I rated it three out of four, it was an enjoyable journey about alien life.
******
Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1)
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
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3 out of 4 stars
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Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1) by Janet McNulty
Solaris Seethes is a science fiction adventure book about an unusual group coming together to stop the destruction of the galaxy. After losing her planet and being betrayed by the man she loves, Rynah unites four earthlings from different time periods to try to undo the damage to her home world and save the universe. Rynah and the AI of the ship her grandfather left for her use the old legends and prophecies to try to stop Klanor from uniting the crystals and destroying the universe. The prophecy says that they need a warrior, an inventor, a scribe, and someone that is incredibly loving; the four earthlings. There are 12 sectors that have planets with intelligent life on them, not counting Earth; the legend states that they need “Four from thirteen.” After bringing the humans aboard the ship, they decide to help Rynah gather the other crystals that Klanor needs for his weapon that can destroy planets. The warrior is Alfric, a Norse chief that is the eldest; the inventor is Tom, a late 21st century engineer; the scribe is Solon, a young man from Ancient Greece and considered weak; and the one with the ability to be loving is Brie, the only other woman aside from Rynah and a teenage girl that has been bullied since her father passed. There was a language barrier that the ship’s AI helped with at first, until Rynah injected the humans with nanites. It is difficult for them to understand the legends to find the crystals, Solon figures it out with some help from the AI, Solaris. They fight Klanor’s men to try to gain the crystals at every turn.
I enjoyed reading this book, it had some wording errors and a few continuity errors. I liked that it showed the perspective of the five leading characters, instead of focusing just on one and following them. It had a diverse group of characters; a light purple alien, a Greek teenager, a Norse clansman, an American girl that is just trying to survive high school, and a black engineer from the future. I think that it could have foreshadowed in a less blatant way for what happens at the end of this book. I think that it could have been better expanded on how they were able to quickly navigate from one sector to another. I liked that it explained where the crystal for Rynah’s planet was originally found and what impact its removal had. I usually prefer to read more fantasy than sci-fi; however, this was a decent book to get someone more into sci-fi. It was interesting that even though Solaris was only an artificial intelligence, she had a unique personality that made her a strong character in the book.
I am rating this book three out of four, primarily because of the typos that I came across. I also did not like the word choice for different parts, it would have been clearer and better with the words I would have used. The first issue that I noticed was a continuity issue where it stated that Rynah was in a nebula for five days after fleeing from her world before agreeing to let Solaris transport the four humans to the ship, and then while talking to the humans, Rynah says that “Yesterday, my entire planet was destroyed…” There were also some run-on sentences and incorrect word usage; in one part, Rynah is explaining why she needs help from the four humans: "they could create a most deadly weapon." It should read "they could create the deadliest weapon."
Personally, I think that the story could have headed in a different direction by changing some of the wording in the prophesy that Solaris recites to Rynah in the beginning. It could have been more vague about each of the four humans role in helping Rynah. Some would be obvious, anyways; however, it would give the characters and the reader something else to discover and understand about the complexities of the characters. That would provide more depth to the characters for the readers to get more attached to them. I think that most of the author's choices in the book of the character development and direction of the story was well chosen and focused correctly. Other than the obvious foreshadowing, it was well done on how the story progressed.
Overall, it is a interesting science fiction book with some fantasy with prophesies from the past included. A purple skin-toned alien gets help from four humans with little in common since they are from different places and times. The travel across the galaxy to get the crystals before Klanor and prevent him from being able to destroy whole planets. Rynah argues with Solaris about bringing the humans aboard the ship; eventually Rynah agrees and they meet Solon, Alfric, Tom and Brie. They argue amongst each other and learn about their families as they try to protect the universe from Klanor. It was a enjoyable book that had very interesting characters that all had interesting growth. They are very diverse in cultures, as well as when and where they are from. The unusual group is united by a common cause of saving the universe, the driving force moving them forward. Other than the few typos, wording errors, and continuity errors; the story was well written and a good read. I rated it three out of four, it was an enjoyable journey about alien life.
******
Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1)
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
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