Review by Klshort0828 -- Daisy's Run by Scott Baron

[Klshort0828]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Daisy's Run" by Scott Baron.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Daisy’s Run by Scott Baron is a twisty, original sci-fi adventure. I truly enjoyed reading this book and I would rate it 3 out of 4 stars . Baron manages a rare feat; he surprises his readers by turning conventional plot lines until he reaches a conclusion you were not expecting. While not a perfect or intellectually deep book it is certainly a solid afternoon read with a decent social message that is not heavy handed.

This delightful story starts onboard the distressed starship Váli. The AI in charge wakes the crew early from their chyro -sleep to make repairs. Daisy, a snarky mechanic with a phobia over AIs or any human/machine mix is the heroine. At fist everything seems business as usual but after the death of a crew-mate Daisy begins to suspect that something is wrong with the ship’s AI. As she starts investigating inconsistencies pile up. She begins to suspect that the entire mission is nothing but a huge conspiracy to wipe out all of mankind. But nothing is as it seems and all of her preconceived notions will shatter before the truth comes to light.

Barons take on technology is refreshing after so many robots taking over sci-fi stories. His point of view is fresh and his story, while occasionally slow paced, is well grounded with his characters addressing situations logically before addressing the next plot point. Baron addresses humanity’s xenophobic fears and shines a light on how our prejudices affect our behavior and color our perceptions. All in all Daisy’s Run is good social commentary about letting superficial differences limit our willingness to listen and accept others as they are.

The characters in the book were interesting and interacted well together. I have to question how well all the characters got along over the six months that it took to get to their destination. There never seemed to be any tension before in Daisy’s and Vince’s six month relationship before she began to question her surrounding. Tamara is the only exception to this as a she doesn’t seem to like Daisy very much from the start. Other characters seem to be fillers, with little to no impact on the storyline.

While I enjoyed this book I couldn’t give it four stars due to some editing errors and occasional lull in the plot. The book seemed to have several scenes that did not advance the story or add significantly to the plot line. Too much time is devoted to the repair of the ship which would have been better spent on character development, Daisy’s neuro functions and inexplicable knowledge base also seemed too advanced a technology for the rest of the ship. While these things might be explained in subsequent books, the mystery of it left a flat taste. While Baron is a competent writer this book could have benefited from some more editing.

Daisy’s Run may not be a great science fiction masterpiece but it is an enjoyable afternoon read.

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Daisy's Run
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[Erin Painter Baker]

I like that the book was able to surprise you with a different take on a standard sci-fi convention.