Official Review: Leap Lives by nathan labeau
Posted: 22 Mar 2018, 13:35
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Leap Lives" by nathan labeau.]
2 out of 4 stars
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Leaplives: An Untouched Space in Time by Nathan Labeau is a science fiction novel that follows a group of time-traveling space soldiers as they travel to alternate dimensions in an attempt to end a war. Jumping through space and time, these brave soldiers work to alter reality in these alternate dimensions in order to bring about peace to the universe. Through covert operations and full scale space battles, the protagonists attempt to restore peace and freedom to the cosmos.
In another space and time, there is a war raging. Forces from the Vertex Union and the United Allegiance battle against the evil of the Legion, fighting to keep them from obtaining information that would allow them to use time travel to take over the universe. Good and evil leapfrog through time and space, each side trying to outmaneuver the other in an intricate game of strategy.
I found the concept of this book to be interesting. The idea that one could leap into an alternate reality and live years at a time while only a second passed in one’s actual reality is definitely mind-bending. The author used these leaps to show the reader numerous worlds on multiple planets, each containing strange life forms, plant life, and weather patterns. Labeau also uses extensive detail to describe the technology of this time, from the spaceships battling for supremacy to the devices that allow one to leap in time.
I struggled to read this novel. While I found the concept interesting, there were numerous issues that prevented me from enjoying the book. Because this is a time-travel book, I expected it to jump around in the storyline a bit. However, this story follows 5 different main characters. Each one of these characters leaps through time, interacting with each other on several different dimensions. Instead of just following one or two characters, we get the interactions of these characters in each dimension from each character’s viewpoint. So that’s anywhere from three to five versions of the same scenes. This got very repetitive and very confusing. It was hard for me to keep up with what was going on in the story, especially when there are “solo missions” interspersed within. There were entire passages that I would read and then get an odd sense of déjà vu, as I’d already read this dialogue and setting a few chapters before, while following another character.
Another issue I had with reading this novel was the writing style. Labeau created an entire new world, complete with new languages and terminology. This got a little tedious for my tastes, as pages were spent describing various fighter suits and ships. Each one had a name, such as Transparent Ultimate Fighter (TUF) units. While I understand the need for creating a new world and the acronyms for some of the items, there were simply too many to keep up with. At times, reading the novel was a bit like reading a research study or textbook.
The book was also very poorly edited. Numerous spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors are found in the novel. Entire sections of dialogue have no punctuation, are missing beginning or ending quotation marks, and often have no capitalization at the beginning of the sentence. For these reasons, I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. While the concept is very interesting, for me the execution was poor. Without extensive editing, I would not be able to recommend this book.
******
Leap Lives
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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2 out of 4 stars
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Leaplives: An Untouched Space in Time by Nathan Labeau is a science fiction novel that follows a group of time-traveling space soldiers as they travel to alternate dimensions in an attempt to end a war. Jumping through space and time, these brave soldiers work to alter reality in these alternate dimensions in order to bring about peace to the universe. Through covert operations and full scale space battles, the protagonists attempt to restore peace and freedom to the cosmos.
In another space and time, there is a war raging. Forces from the Vertex Union and the United Allegiance battle against the evil of the Legion, fighting to keep them from obtaining information that would allow them to use time travel to take over the universe. Good and evil leapfrog through time and space, each side trying to outmaneuver the other in an intricate game of strategy.
I found the concept of this book to be interesting. The idea that one could leap into an alternate reality and live years at a time while only a second passed in one’s actual reality is definitely mind-bending. The author used these leaps to show the reader numerous worlds on multiple planets, each containing strange life forms, plant life, and weather patterns. Labeau also uses extensive detail to describe the technology of this time, from the spaceships battling for supremacy to the devices that allow one to leap in time.
I struggled to read this novel. While I found the concept interesting, there were numerous issues that prevented me from enjoying the book. Because this is a time-travel book, I expected it to jump around in the storyline a bit. However, this story follows 5 different main characters. Each one of these characters leaps through time, interacting with each other on several different dimensions. Instead of just following one or two characters, we get the interactions of these characters in each dimension from each character’s viewpoint. So that’s anywhere from three to five versions of the same scenes. This got very repetitive and very confusing. It was hard for me to keep up with what was going on in the story, especially when there are “solo missions” interspersed within. There were entire passages that I would read and then get an odd sense of déjà vu, as I’d already read this dialogue and setting a few chapters before, while following another character.
Another issue I had with reading this novel was the writing style. Labeau created an entire new world, complete with new languages and terminology. This got a little tedious for my tastes, as pages were spent describing various fighter suits and ships. Each one had a name, such as Transparent Ultimate Fighter (TUF) units. While I understand the need for creating a new world and the acronyms for some of the items, there were simply too many to keep up with. At times, reading the novel was a bit like reading a research study or textbook.
The book was also very poorly edited. Numerous spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors are found in the novel. Entire sections of dialogue have no punctuation, are missing beginning or ending quotation marks, and often have no capitalization at the beginning of the sentence. For these reasons, I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. While the concept is very interesting, for me the execution was poor. Without extensive editing, I would not be able to recommend this book.
******
Leap Lives
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like 1ditzyrn's review? Post a comment saying so!