3 out of 4 stars
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Solaris Seethes is the first novel of Solaris Saga, a series of four books. Janet McNulty, its author, is a prolific writer, passionate about sci-fi. Solaris is also the name of a beautiful 1961 sci-fi novel by Stanislaw Lem. In the book at hand, Solaris is not a planet, but a very special space-ship, featuring artificial intelligence, moods and bad temper.
The plot starts with Klanor, a deceitful man, getting engaged to Rynah, a security officer at a geo-lab, to steal a crystal that is keeping the magnetic turbulences of their planet stable. Without it, life on the planet gets destroyed.
What follows has been predicted by a legend from old times, that nobody but Rynah’s grandfather and the thief believe. The legend has it that this crystal is one of six, which, if assembled, will become a weapon powerful enough to destroy solar systems. To prevent that from happening, Rynah’s grandfather has upgraded Solaris, this old army space-ship, endowing it with AI and whatever will be needed in supreme battles: thus, it is Solaris that provides Rynah with information and advice and abducts four people who can help her find the other crystals and save the world. They come from Terra Sector, a space that has been overlooked and ignored as primitive in the more advanced world of the time. The ensuing adventures take the reader on galactic trips through the universe, odds inclining in favor or against Rynah.
The sci-fi fans will love the book as all the good stuff they know about is there: Rynah has emerald hair and her skin is a pale shade of lavender, she uses holo-screens and nanotechnology, and travels at hyper-speed. As the four abductees come from various times in the history of Earth (a Viking, a scribe in Ancient Greece, a 2014 teen-ager, and a post-graduate student of 2099), it is fun to see how they become acquainted with the wonders of hyper-advanced technology. While taking part in the various fights, they display the qualities they were chosen for and manage to pass them on to the others so that the greater team, including Solaris and led by Rynah, manage to survive the most terrible attacks.
The characters remind me of The Wizzard of Ozz and Star Wars. Their familiarity makes it easier to follow the action, that, sadly, is sometimes predictable. Even if the point the author wants to make is that "nobody is perfect", the characters' repeated falling into similar traps becomes a little boring.
I could not find any typos or errors in the text, which is a rare and commendable situation. Therefore, I cannot but grant the book three out of four stars, especially thinking of the young readers, who will not just read the book but also use the appended coloring books to extend their stay in the company of the novel’s characters.
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Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1)
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