Review of Homecoming
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Haime Alshaef
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Review of Homecoming
[Following is a volunteer review of "Homecoming" by Jude Austin.]
Homecoming by Jude Austin is the second novel in The Five Worlds series, and it picks up where we left off in the first book. After two long years of deceit, torture, and pain, Kalin Taylor and Project Tau finally escaped GenTech, leaving behind a trail of mangled corpses. Without any ID and a shuttle that was quickly running out of fuel, Kalin’s only hope was to go to his home planet, Trandellia, and pray that Core Central would give them the freedom they desired. It seemed like such a straightforward plan. But nothing comes easily for those two. Kalin’s picture was plastered all over the Shadownet, and soon he found himself running away from his government, GenTech, bounty hunters, and the biggest organized crime syndicate on Trandellia—all the while trying to keep Project Tau safe. Will he be able to find salvation? Will Tau? Or will they be separated forever? Read on to find out!
I truly loved this book so much! It did start a little slow in the beginning, but the action picked up quickly and didn’t end. It had all the great storytelling and emotional resonance of the first book, and so much more. We were told that Kalin was extremely smart in the first book, but we didn’t get to see much of it, so it was nice to see the full scope of his ingenuity and creative brilliance in this book. The storytelling was also phenomenal. I loved that the author included bits from Tau’s perspective because when we see what he’s thinking and feeling, it humanizes him and makes the readers root for him. Austin’s characterization was realistic and relatable. She gives them both flaws that they have to overcome, and she doesn’t have her characters seemingly get over the years of torture overnight. A lot of authors tend to forget about all the effects that torture can cause, and it can be frustrating and hard to relate to the characters when they get over traumatizing situations easily. So I loved how she included panic attacks, flashbacks, and nightmares and made it clear that the characters were struggling. From a literary perspective, I appreciated how she used run-on sentences to convey the panic and inability to breathe that Kalin must have been experiencing. When you’re reading a sentence and it goes on and on without any commas or periods, you start to feel breathless, and that perfectly captures the sense of urgency and suffocation in Kalin’s mind.
I truly don’t have anything negative to say about this book at all. Every part of it was a joy to read. The ending was satisfactory, and she set up a small situation that gave me questions and made me want to read the next book to answer them. This book was also obviously exceptionally well-edited, and I didn’t find a single mistake, so I would be happy to rate this book a perfect 5 out of 5 stars.
There was a lot of swearing and references to rape and torture, so I wouldn’t recommend this to kids or anyone who isn’t comfortable with that sort of thing. This is soft sci-fi, so there are clones, intelligence, and action, but no robots, time travel, and the like. I’d also recommend reading the first book before reading this one. For some series, you can easily read and understand the second or third books without reading the first, but for this one, it’s important to read the first book to fully understand what’s happening.
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Homecoming
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
Homecoming by Jude Austin is the second novel in The Five Worlds series, and it picks up where we left off in the first book. After two long years of deceit, torture, and pain, Kalin Taylor and Project Tau finally escaped GenTech, leaving behind a trail of mangled corpses. Without any ID and a shuttle that was quickly running out of fuel, Kalin’s only hope was to go to his home planet, Trandellia, and pray that Core Central would give them the freedom they desired. It seemed like such a straightforward plan. But nothing comes easily for those two. Kalin’s picture was plastered all over the Shadownet, and soon he found himself running away from his government, GenTech, bounty hunters, and the biggest organized crime syndicate on Trandellia—all the while trying to keep Project Tau safe. Will he be able to find salvation? Will Tau? Or will they be separated forever? Read on to find out!
I truly loved this book so much! It did start a little slow in the beginning, but the action picked up quickly and didn’t end. It had all the great storytelling and emotional resonance of the first book, and so much more. We were told that Kalin was extremely smart in the first book, but we didn’t get to see much of it, so it was nice to see the full scope of his ingenuity and creative brilliance in this book. The storytelling was also phenomenal. I loved that the author included bits from Tau’s perspective because when we see what he’s thinking and feeling, it humanizes him and makes the readers root for him. Austin’s characterization was realistic and relatable. She gives them both flaws that they have to overcome, and she doesn’t have her characters seemingly get over the years of torture overnight. A lot of authors tend to forget about all the effects that torture can cause, and it can be frustrating and hard to relate to the characters when they get over traumatizing situations easily. So I loved how she included panic attacks, flashbacks, and nightmares and made it clear that the characters were struggling. From a literary perspective, I appreciated how she used run-on sentences to convey the panic and inability to breathe that Kalin must have been experiencing. When you’re reading a sentence and it goes on and on without any commas or periods, you start to feel breathless, and that perfectly captures the sense of urgency and suffocation in Kalin’s mind.
I truly don’t have anything negative to say about this book at all. Every part of it was a joy to read. The ending was satisfactory, and she set up a small situation that gave me questions and made me want to read the next book to answer them. This book was also obviously exceptionally well-edited, and I didn’t find a single mistake, so I would be happy to rate this book a perfect 5 out of 5 stars.
There was a lot of swearing and references to rape and torture, so I wouldn’t recommend this to kids or anyone who isn’t comfortable with that sort of thing. This is soft sci-fi, so there are clones, intelligence, and action, but no robots, time travel, and the like. I’d also recommend reading the first book before reading this one. For some series, you can easily read and understand the second or third books without reading the first, but for this one, it’s important to read the first book to fully understand what’s happening.
******
Homecoming
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
Latest Review: Mike & Alex by Peter van Wermeskerken
