Review by Gwen117 -- Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1)

[Gwen117]

[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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A legend of six powerful crystals that can create and destroy worlds has been passed down for thousands of years. No one on the planet of Lanyr believed in the power of the crystals until a crystal was stolen leading to the destruction of their planet. Narrowly escaping death, Rynah and her spaceship, Solaris, embark on a journey to retrieve all the crystals before they can be used to destroy more planets. Following an old prophecy, Rynah recruits four humans from different time periods to help her complete her mission: an inventor, a warrior, a philosopher and a lover. Working together, the group travels to different planets searching for crystals while trying to stay ahead of their enemies.

Solaris Seethes by Janet McNulty is a science fiction book told from a third person omniscient point of view. I think this book has a lot of potential, but the author did not do it justice with a lack of imagination, characterization, and a poor writing style. With the book taking place on distant planets with aliens and magical crystals, the author could have taken a lot of creative liberties, but instead most of the places and people they saw lacked originality. There is a water planet, a jungle planet, and a desert planet. Most of the people/aliens they meet look exactly like humans except for different skin tones and hair color. They also all speak the same language despite being different species from different planets. Many things the characters encounter have a strong resemblance to things on Earth as well. This can be seen in the appearances of saber-toothed tigers, sharks, waffles, and chicken fajitas. It is hard to enjoy a science fiction book when this book could have very well taken place on Earth.

Beyond a lack of creativity, there is a lack of characterization. All of the characters are one-dimensional, especially the humans. Tom is curious, Alfric is brave, Solon makes lots of insightful comments, and Brie is a coward. There was very little work done to develop these characters beyond “the inventor, the warrior, the philosopher and the lover.” Rynah’s character is also very simple despite being an alien; the only difference between her and the humans is her green hair and purple skin. Also, despite all the humans being from different times transported into a space station with an alien, they show little reaction and just accept their role in Rynah’s mission. This is made worse by the fact that both Solon and Alfric are from times well before space travel, and yet they very easily wrapped their heads around being in a spaceship going to other planets. However, Brie’s character did develop and mature at the end. Solaris, the artificial intelligence programmed into the ship, does have a more complex character as well.

What also makes the book very difficult to read is the poor writing style. There are a lot of parenthetical phrases that make the book tedious to read. In one sentence describing Brie’s walk home, there are three parenthetical phrases adding in unnecessary details about the sidewalk, an abandoned car, and her neighbor’s fence. This makes for sentences that are not fluid, and pulls the reader’s attention away from what is important. There is also a focus on unimportant things like a long description of Raynah walking up the stairs, including how many steps there were, and the sounds her boots made.

The second half of the book did improve with more action. There are some battle scenes that kept me turning the page and some small plot twists. Overall, this book has an interesting story, just poorly executed with very simple writing and ideas. I give this book a 2 out of 4 stars. There are no profanities, but this book does need some more editing. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy books on quests and space travel but don’t mind the lack of complex worlds.

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Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1)
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