Review by TheEmily -- Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1)

[TheEmily]

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

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2 out of 4 stars

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I give Solaris Seethes 2 out of 4 stars. Overall I liked Solaris Seethes but I don't come close to loving it. There were some exciting moments but they were not the kind of exciting that has me on the edge of my seat wishing that page turning didn't take so much time. There were some moments of wisdom but not the kind that makes me stop put down the book to think deeply. There were some funny moments but not the kind that ever came close to make me laugh aloud or even give a half hearted chuckle. There were some moments of newness and things I haven't seen but not enough to keep me from guessing plot points and how it would end.

The book opens with an enigmatic message from a spaceship. After the prologue the book jumps to the perspective of the lavender skinned, emerald haired, and giddy Rynah. Rynah is our main character and is giddy because she is newly engaged and has no idea what future awaits her. Her future takes a dramatic shift when her underground lab gets broken into and the special crystal that aligns her planet’s magnetic field and makes the planet habitable is stolen. She then makes her way across the cracking surface of the planet and coincidentally finds herself on a spaceship built by her grandfather for this exact purpose. Once upon the sentient ship Solaris Rynah learns that she has to go on a prophesied quest with random strangers pulled out of time from Earth to recover the magic crystals and save the universe. They like all randomly gathered group of questers have trouble with teamwork and have failures at the hand of their enemies but in the end band together over shared tragedy. I'm mildly interested in what happens in the following books but not enough to buy or read them.

For me in my personal reading character is vital even above plot, and there is one character in this book that stands head and shoulders above the rest. Solaris is my favorite character in this book. The other characters I either like mildly or just tolerate but Solaris is the character that I come the closest to loving. There are many books that follow a ragtag, unlikely, tumultuous strangers on a quest to save the world. Generally they are led by a older crotchety figure with secret knowledge and impressive powers but none of those characters to my knowledge are a spaceship. In the prologue of the book the intrepid Gandalf-esque spaceship introduces herself like this “My name is Solaris. I am a ship, a vessel some consider archaic, but I have a secret—a purpose.” (I am not comparing a spaceship with an attitude to a character as amazing and beloved as Gandalf I am just saying that they share similar roles in their quest) Solaris is the sentient mind and personality of ship and the ship itself. Though it would be terribly awkward to live inside an all seeing and knowing spaceship who can display her annoyance with you by making steam come out of your bedroom vents.

For me there were a few specific and possibly too nit-picky things that bother me. Firstly is that in a universe where Earth as we know it exists and yet no one knows about it an alien planet has nutmeg. There is a character that postulates that all life expanded and evolved from a single point so theoretically nutmeg could still exist but it's highly unlikely that it would be the same nutmeg that Earthlings would recognize. Secondly near the end of Chapter 16 Tom tell Solaris to turn the ship around inside a cave that he just flew into. Clearly that would be turning 180 degrees but the book read:“She made a 360-degree turn until the front end faced the opening of the cave.” Thirdly though all the characters are from different time periods and some from other planets it is never explained how they are all able to speak the same language. If Solaris has a translation matrix like the TARDIS it is never mentioned.

This book is ok. It has been said about me that I am pretentious and expect too much out of stories. Therefore do not let my review deter you if this book sounds like something you would enjoy. There were some very clever and new things in this book but I just don't think it was pushed far enough to let those ideas shine.

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Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1)
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[Rebecca_Rivera]

Very insightful review. I expect a lot out of books as well, so I highly identified with some of your comments. Specifically, the one about turning "360 degrees" in order to face the other way. Those small things do make a difference to those who pay attention.