Review by AshNewell -- Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga boo...

[AshNewell]

[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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Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1)

Solaris Seethes is a science fiction, space adventure book written by Janet McNulty and is first in a four-book series.

The story follows Rynah, a resident of the planet Lanyr. Rynah works as a security guard in the Geothermic Lab, where she helps to protect a crystal that controls the magnetic field of the planet. When the crystal is suddenly stolen, the planet is left destroyed and Rynah barely escapes with her life. She is able to escape on a ship left behind for her by her late grandfather. The ship is called Solaris and was built with artificial intelligence and a sassy attitude.

Solaris explains a prophecy of six crystals, which can be used together to form a great weapon. Part of the prophecy also mentions four warriors that come from a distant planet and will help save the crystals. Solaris is able to determine who the four warriors are and teleport them to Rynah through space and time. The four warriors are all from Earth, but from different times. They include a 17-year-old scribe from 751 B.C. Greece, a Viking king from the year 1163, a 16-year-old girl from 2014, and a 20-year-old inventor from 2099. With help from this unlikely crew, Rynah travels the galaxy in search of the other crystals in a race to save the universe.

This book is a fairly easy read. It contains quite a bit of action that keeps the pages turning. It is also interesting to learn about the backgrounds of each of the crew members of Solaris. However, despite being an easy read, the book lacked thrill. The author seemed to attempt to create suspense over the fate of the characters in harrowing situations. Any suspense was lost, however, due to predictable outcomes and a lack of interest in some characters.

One issue with this book is the author’s excessive use of parentheses. It is understandable to see parentheses used occasionally in fiction, usually if the book is written in a first-person perspective with the parentheses acting as an aside to the narrator’s thoughts or insight into the narrator’s personality. However, this book has an omniscient third person narrative, with the exception of the prologue. The use of parentheses are mostly distracting, especially with the amount of information the author puts into the parentheses. Readers will likely have to reread sentences where the main idea is interrupted by one such aside.

I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. The book was okay and the story was interesting enough to finish, however, I currently have no plans to read the next story in the series. Despite this, I sincerely believe that others may enjoy this book. The ideal target probably ranges from middle school aged children to young adults, especially those interested in space-themed science fiction.

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Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1)
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