3 out of 4 stars
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The authorship of Oblivion Threshold had me running a scan of my memory. The result? Save for textbooks and children’s books, I can’t recall ever reading a novel written by two authors. To make it more intriguing, each of the authors boasts of a number of independently published works. Having my antennae thus heightened, I delved into the book to see whether J.R Mabry and B.J West would deliver!
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to report that the two authors did not disappoint! Their science fiction/fantasy thriller is a well researched, very engaging masterpiece! Physics or galaxies, space entities or military operations, the duo cleverly introduce authentic concepts without leaving readers' eyes glazed over technical jargon!
In the prologue of this first book of the Oblivion saga, the reader encounters the Prox (an alien species) in action. They bizarrely attack a reconnaissance ship from earth’s colony, New Manila, in deep space. The plot then unfolds around Captains Jeff and Jo - colleagues and once-upon-a-time lovers. As a result of an earlier mission tragedy, Jeff suffers from PTSD which has made him abrasive and reclusive. Jo, on the other hand, is fun and ambitious. Jeff is soon assigned a solo mission to spy on the Prox on New Manila, which they utterly destroyed. He crashes on a moon whose inhabitant/s (the Ulim) put him back together, like Humpty Dumpty, and miraculously transport him back to earth!
Meanwhile, the Prox are speedily approaching earth from different directions destroying every colony and space station in their paths. Jeff discovers he has powers that can help win the coming war. The Ulim, however, forbid him to use these powers lest he ends all life. This is ironic, though, because if not stopped, the Prox will still end all life on earth! Get yourself a copy of Oblivion Threshold to find out how Jeff handles this catch 22 situation!
Oblivion Threshold is masterfully crafted, with moments of flowery imagery like:
The writing style is conversational and superbly engaging. The authors weave such a comfortable balance between description and ‘tech-speak’ that the reader is at home both in space and at strategy meetings! I must admit the book gave me the feeling of belonging to a NASA equivalent and loving every moment of it!A monad of thought wondering at the impossibility of such a thing flitted into his consciousness, then out again. Despite the cold, he began to sweat as his thoughts flailed, looking for an out.
Writing in the third person, from predominantly Jeff’s and Jo’s perspectives, the authors present such convincing characters that the reader is quickly sucked into the inner lane of the narration. Admiral Paul Jennings is the typical military boss. The other characters are equally relatable. To crown this, there is marked character development. We see Jeff grow to embrace teamwork. Jo finally gets to lead a male-dominated mission to space and decisively stamps out insubordination.
Love and ‘polynity’(from the word trinity)are minor themes in the book. The main theme is space travel and war - or to be precise, the imminent apocalypse! But, herein lies my dissatisfaction with the book - it ends suddenly. It is as if the authors stumble upon an unforeseen roadblock, and slam, they wind up the book! I believe it’s their idea of a cliffhanger but considering that, right from the prologue, they had been prepping the reader for war with the invincible Prox, couldn’t they at least give him/her a moment to relish and linger in the epic war? I couldn't understand what their hurry was. The book is only twelve chapters long!
All the same, I was going to overlook the ill-timed cliffhanger, because I figured it was more my personal preference than the contravention of any rule. Unfortunately, I found more than ten minor errors in the book. These mostly had to do with missing words or spacing. My book version also didn’t have page numbers. I assume this was the making of the epub format that I used, seeing the book has a table of content with page numbers. I thus rate Threshold Oblivion 3 out of 4 stars.
I gladly recommend the book to older teens, young adults and lovers of the genre. The occasional use of cuss words like f*ck or you’re shitting me, makes me hesitate to recommend it to younger readers. This is a shame because this group would have loved the action. All the same, if you enjoyed Star Trek and Starship Troopers, you simply cannot pass up this adventure!
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Oblivion Threshold
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