Review by calciumm -- Masters and Bastards

[calciumm]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Masters and Bastards" by Christopher J. Penington.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Far from its original home, humanity restarts to cultivate itself on another planet. However, history is bound to repeat itself. With the looming adversary of war and extinction, Andreas Marset must race against time to save the future of humanity.

Andreas Marset is a promising young legionary in the military infantry. His life turned around as he discovered his role in saving humanity. After being summoned to the Iberian Imperium in the guise of punishment, he is unsuspectedly mated with the Emperor’s bastard daughter, Isabella Caravingian. He was selected to mate with the Emperor’s daughter due to his high marks on his military service and having greater telepathic powers. Aside from that, Isabella stated that having a child with an Arpathian might heal the rift between the nation of Arpathia and Iberia, uniting them to fight against the alien race of Vulgari. However, the Vulgari is not the only threat against humanity, as Silla, Isabella’s mother, had plans to take the empire all for her own.

What I like about this novel is the way the author effortlessly mixed all of his ideas without making the storyline confusing. Imagine adding aliens, political wars, dinosaurs, and romance in one story. Usually, having too many ideas might make the story convoluted and hard to follow. However, Masters and Bastards have a coherent yet detailed storyline. I also like how the author started the novel. The main character was introduced without giving away too much information. The author made sure to build up the mystery of the character by giving just enough information to keep the audience absorbed.

What I did not like in the novel is that there are some inconsistencies early on. One example is when Andreas was called in for interrogation. The interrogator never stated her name throughout her conversation with Andreas, but she suddenly had a name several lines after. There is also an inconsistency with the use of names. Lady Catherine is sometimes referred to as Priscilla. It is not completely clear if the names refer to just one person because the author was not consistent with the use of the name. Some sentences are too long to be in one sentence. An example of this is "The distant alabaster disk of a full moon shared the dusk sky with a listless cluster of stars to the east on the blue side of an otherwise crimson skyline.". I think it is unnecessary to use a lot of adjectives to describe one thing; it just seems like the author is trying hard to reach the word count. The book cover can also be better.

Overall, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. Despite being an exceptional read, the number of grammatical errors and some inconsistencies prevents me from giving the book 4 stars. I recommend this book for people who love reading science fiction. The novel is extremely detailed but its story is very clear and consistent. Masters and Bastards by Christopher J Penington is a brilliant sci-fi read that will get you hooked on its pages.

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Masters and Bastards
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